Letters: Neighborhoods suffer under PG&E's outdated infrastructure

"We cannot compete globally while navigating a vulnerable, 1970s-era overhead grid. Reliability is a shared responsibility; as neighbors, we are committed to trimming private trees and providing maintenance access. However, we need a matching commitment to modernization. We plead for PG&E and the city to invoke Rule 20A credits to underground our lines. Moving the grid beneath the surface is a public safety necessity for our families and students."

"But this stopped medications for AIDS and other communicable diseases, ended shipments of excess farm products to areas where they are needed and ended vaccination programs so that many diseases have returned where they had been reduced or eradicated. Agencies that track worldwide statistics say that already up to 700,000 people in former recipient countries have died because of this."

"How much did USAID cost? Roughly $24 per American, per year (translating to $2 a month, or less than seven cents per day). If you got seven cents back today, what would you do with it? Perhaps add it to that of others to save 700,000 lives? It's a moot question, anyway, because you didn't get your seven cents back; it was "needed" to help cover the tax cuts given to the very wealthiest Americans."

Moreland West experienced its 12th power outage of 2025 on Christmas Day after several brief faults and inaccurate PG&E notices that declared power restored while a sustained blackout persisted. Residents report a vulnerable 1970s-era overhead grid and request use of Rule 20A credits to underground lines, noting neighbors will trim private trees and provide maintenance access. Undergrounding is framed as a public safety necessity for families and students. Ending USAID halted AIDS medications, excess food shipments and vaccination programs, contributing to up to 700,000 deaths in former recipient countries. USAID cost about $24 per American per year, roughly seven cents per day.

Read at The Mercury News