Precisely the opposite. The issue is that this distorted cost structure really doesn't work in a market where there's cost competition on the generation side and customers are being exposed to that competition, as PG&E's cost doesn't go down by nearly as much as customer's bills when cheaper energy sources are used.

Their distortion of public policy through lobbying is a bad thing, but their incentives are actually pretty understandable given the wacko market structure.

> The issue is that this distorted cost structure really doesn't work in a market where there's cost competition on the generation side and customers are being exposed to that competition, as PG&E's cost doesn't go down by nearly as much as customer's bills when cheaper energy sources are used.

That doesn't explain why, if the market is regulated in such a way that PG&E is losing money serving customers to the point of near insolvency, they spend large amounts of money fighting the transfer of those money-losing customers to expansion of municipal utilities.

So far as I can tell from quick reading, PG&E's lobbying is focused on:

1. Pushing liability for disasters (natural and artificial) from the company onto customers and taxpayers.

2. Getting regulators to allow them to lower the safety margins on their infrastructure (a major cause behind the San Bruno explosion).

3. Fighting Community Choice Aggregation programs, which sound most similar to what you describe.

CCA programs are not as you described - they would not remove PG&E from the electricity market in cities. Rather, they allow cities to generate or purchase their own electricity and deliver it over PG&E grids. As I described, this takes away PG&E's major revenue stream (per-kWh rates) while leaving them with their fixed cost (grid maintenance).

> Fighting Community Choice Aggregation programs, which sound most similar to what you describe.

No, I'm taking about campaign spending (lobbying was imprecise) against things like the recent move to expand SMUD service area into West Sacramento. (Not the only recent proposed public utility expansionart they've opposed, but the one I'm most familiar with.)

Well yeah. As long as they can fight off these changes that fuck up their business model, they're still profitable.