Any attempt for the City of Fresno to explore other options for providing electricity to its residents appears to be off the table for good.
Thursday, the Fresno City Council removed an item from the agenda, with no return date, that would have authorized a consulting group to perform a study on the city’s electric services and affordability.
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The backstory: The call for Fresno to dump Pacific Gas and Electric and directly provide electricity to its residents started last October at the behest of Mayor Jerry Dyer and Councilman Garry Bredefeld.
- They wanted to explore other alternatives due to PG&E’s expensive rate hikes and poor service connections in Fresno.
- Bredefeld made headlines at the time by calling the utility a “recidivist criminal enterprise,” dubbing PG&E the Plunder, Gouge and Extortion company.
- Their efforts were not met with support as last November the council declined to move ahead with a study, and within the next couple weeks Dyer went on to distance himself from the idea, saying he never thought the city should take over PG&E’s operations.
Driving the news: The request for a study came up again in May, with the city looking to hire a consultant for $256,000 to develop potential options to improve services and affordability.
- But the proposal was repeatedly delayed until a future meeting by the council, never allowing it to remain on the agenda.
- The idea now seems to be dead on arrival as the council has pushed it off indefinitely, showing no hints that it will consider it in the future.
