"I've been writing about the scandalous behavior of PG&E and the need for public power since I started at the Bay Guardian in 1983. I was following in the footsteps of others, starting with the late Joe Neilands, a biochemistry professor at Berkeley who discovered in 1969 that PG&E was operating illegally in San Francisco for decades; the city had, and has, a federal mandate to provide public power to its residents and businesses."
"So at one point, about 30 years ago, I flew to Washington DC and spent two weeks in the National Archives, reading and copying documents that relate to the PG&E Raker Act scandal. I carried home two big boxes full of records, and over the next few months, put together a detailed chronology of the Raker Act, the construction of the city's water and power dam at Hetch Hetchy, and the politics of how this all happened."
"The private Spring Valley Water Co. has gained monopoly control of water service in San Francisco, but the limited rainfall runoff that feeds its tiny reservoir system can't possibly keep pace with the needs of a growing city. After crossing off 15 alternative sites, Mayor Phelan files in April 1902 for water rights on the Tuolumne River with money from his own pocket."
Longstanding concerns about PG&E misconduct and the need for public municipal power trace back decades. Joe Neilands discovered in 1969 that PG&E operated illegally in San Francisco while a federal mandate obligated the city to provide public power. Archival research in the National Archives produced two boxes of records and a chronology of the Raker Act, the Hetch Hetchy dam construction, and the political maneuvering involved. The private Spring Valley Water Co. held a water monopoly that could not meet a growing city’s needs. Mayor Phelan filed for Tuolumne River rights in 1902. City engineer Grunsky proposed damming Hetch Hetchy for water and its cheap electrical power, while Interior secretaries vacillated for a decade.
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