My Dear Joe Letter

Date February 27, 2010

Maven loves getting mail. Especially, if it has to do with something I wrote and even if a person disagrees with me.  So I got and email from Joe Nation.  Here is what I wrote back.

Dear Joe,

Joe you always know where to find me and you are always welcome to share your thoughts as I write on a public forum.

If you read here and here, I keep my criticism to my legitimate complaint about these fliers coming from the “Common Sense Coalition” or PG&E.  Like I said, these fliers are no better than the fliers that were going on about you in Spring 08.  I wrote against those hit pieces that were against you, and I remain consistently against these fluffy appeals to fear now.  You were once a grand benefactor of my disdain of hit mailers, now you are just going to have to take your lumps.

I also wrote, “I understand that even the best ideas like Community Green Power, the devil is in the details. How the program is ultimately executed is important. It is easy to sit up and take notice when our own Marin County Controller, Micheal Smith from Sausalito says, “don’t do it” or when a Marin Grand Jury agrees. As with any public agency, citizens need to educate themselves and hold those who run any agency, including the Marin Energy Authority accountable.”

From The Ross Valley Reporter, “The MEA’s contract was reviewed by MRW and Associates, which was commissioned to study the contract to assess financial risks to member cities. The only risks identified in the report were potentially high PG&E exit fees, for which MEA was encouraged to assume responsibility.”  Which is odd, because on the latest flier from your Common Sense Coalition it warns us, “and if you don’t opt out of the MEA’s system during the initial opt-out period, you may be charged exit fees” for leaving the program. In the Grand Jury, one of the biggest identified risks was that PG&E was promising to sue municipalities that elect to leave or lobby for laws that will obstruct them (ie. Prop 16). The problem wherever I turn is PG&E, not once is there an affirmative message why we should stay with PG&E. This campaign of PG&E is employing fear, uncertainty, and doubt and that always raises my suspicions.

Another problem is PG&E is not really a disinterested party in this. There may be legitimate issues with financing risks or issues of where we get power, but the messenger is the problem.

Joe, as I wrote in my blog PG&E did this to themselves and if they lose they will have only themselves to blame for their heavy handed way. The best way to keep customers with you is give them a reason to believe in you. If you have to sue to keep your customer, perhaps you need to work on your customer service skills.

Matier & Ross weigh in. Here is not a mindless,  but very well reasoned blog on this topic.

Don’t even get me started on Proposition 16. Well, at least you guys are not trying to spin  it as some “voter’s rights” proposition. Wait! Really?

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Category Posted in Community Choice Energy, Joe Nation, Marin Energy Coalition, Marin Politicians, Marin Politics, PG&E, california politics, energy, environment, global warming