#utilities company

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"EX-M.L.H.P. EMPLOYES STEAL GAS AND LIGHT," Montreal Star. July 6, 1934. Page 3. --- Both Convicted, One Sent to Jail --- Two former employes of the Montreal Light, Heat & Power Cons., J. Bastien, 7170 Drolet street, and Dalma Bertrand, 788 Marin avenue, were found guilty of the theft of illuminating gas and electricity, respectively, by Judge Lacroix today. Bastien was fined $100 and costs with the alternative of one month in jail, while Bertrand was sentenced to one month in jail without the option of a fine.

"I would ask Your Honor to be severe in these cases," J. Angus Ogilvy, the company's attorney, requested after Judge Lacroix had declared the pair guilty. "Both these men," he pointed out, "were former employes of the company and, as such, realized the dangers of their actions more than the average user of gas and electricity. I might say that Bertrand had been warned previously five or six times, but took no notice of our inspectors."

Inspectors of the power company recounted how they had found a piece of wire in the valve of Bastien's gas meter which allowed gas to be used without its being registered on the meter. In Bertrand's case, locks placed on the the meters had been broken, inispectors testified.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

SoCal Gas spent millions on astroturf ops to fight climate rules

Today (19 Aug), I'm appearing at the San Diego Union-Tribune Festival of Books. I'm on a 2:30PM panel called "Return From Retirement," followed by a signing:

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/festivalofbooks

It's a breathtaking fraud: SoCal Gas, the largest gas company in America, spent millions secretly paying people to oppose California environmental regulations, then illegally stuck its customers with the bill. We Californians were forced to pay to lobby against our own survival:

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article277266828.html

The criminal scheme is spelled out in eye-watering detail in a superb investigative report by Joe Rubin and Ari Plachta for the Sacramento Bee, which names the law firms and individual lawyers involved in the scam.

Here's the situation: SoCal Gas is California's private, regulated gas monopoly. They are allowed to lobby, but are legally required to charge their lobbying activities to their shareholders, and are prohibited from raising customer rates to pay for lobbying.

The company spent years secretly violating this rule, in the sleaziest way possible: working with corporate cartels like the California Restaurant Association and BizFed, the monopoly paid BigLaw white-shoe firms to procure people who posed as concerned citizens in order to oppose climate regulations that are essential to the state's very survival.

The bill topped $36 million – and it was illegally charged to its customers, the Californians whose immediate health and long-term survival these efforts opposed. SoCal Gas refuses to disclose the full extent of the spending, as do its lawyer-procurers, who cite legal confidentiality and a First Amendment right to secretly seek to influence policy in their refusal to disclose their profits from this illegal conduct.

The law firms involved are a who's-who of California's most prominent corporate fixers, including Reichman Jorgensen and Holland & Knight. The partners involved have a long rap sheet for anti-climate dirty tricking, most notably Jennifer Hernandez, notorious in climate justice history for an incident where activists claim she posed as one of them, infiltrating a campaign to force corporate despoilers to clean up their pollution in order to sabotage it, while secretly on a wealthy, prominent landowner's payroll.

Hernandez claims to care about the environment and says that her longstanding, corporate-funded, extensive campaigns and lawsuits against state environmental regulations are motivated by concern over their impact on working people. Her firm, Holland & Knight, denies serving SoCal Gas in opposing gas regulations, but it received $594k in ratepayer dollars, and submitted comments opposing the rules on its own behalf. Those comments were nearly identical to the comments submitted by SoCal Gas.

Hernandez also represents an obscure organization called The Two Hundred for Home Ownership in "a flurry of lawsuits" over California Air Resources Board rules on pollution, seeking to overturn the state's landmark climate change regulations.

Two Hundred for Home Ownership was founded by Robert Apodaca, who told the Bee that Hernandez's work for him is pro bono and not funded by SoCal Gas, but his entry into the fray occurred just as SoCalGas was founding an astroturf group called Californians for Fair and Balanced Energy (C4BES), which pretended to be an independent organization, disguising its relationship with SoCal Gas.

Apodaca is also founder of United Latinos Vote, an organization that had been largely dormant for seven years, not receiving any donations, until 2018, when the California Building Industry Association gave it $99k. The CBIA is a large-dollar recipient of donations from SoCal Gas, and its CEO insists that it was not acting on SoCal Gas's behalf when it made its unpredented donation to Apodaca.

The CBIA donation to United Latinos Vote was forerunner to a flood of corporate donations from the likes of Chevron, Marathon and Phillips 66. Shortly after receiving this cash, United Latinos Vote ran a full page ad in the LA Times, accusing the Sierra Club of pushing for anti-gas appliance rules that would harm working class Latino families.

This ad, in turn, featured prominently in advocacy by the SoCal Gas front group C4BES, funded with $29.1m in ratepayer money, which it then spent seeking to link clean appliance rules with anti-Latino racism. A quarter of California's carbon emissions come from home gas use.

SoCal Gas is regulated by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC), which tolerated this mounting illegal conduct for many years, even as the company circulated internal memos as early as 2015 discussing its plans to oppose electrification in the state on the basis that it constituted "a significant risk to our business."

But last year, CPUC fined SoCal Gas $10m. Now, CPUC's Public Advocate office has filed a damning, extensive report on SoCal Gas's unlawful conduct, seeking $80m in rate cuts to compensate Californians for the funds misappropriated to protect the company's shareholder interests:

https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M517/K407/517407314.PDF

Additionally, the Public Advocate is demanding $233m in fines for the company's refusal to allow investigators to audit its books and discover the full extent of the fraud.

SoCal Gas is the nation's largest utility, but (incredibly), it's not the dirtiest. That prize goes to Ohio's FirstEnergy, which handed $60m in ratepayer dollars to state politicians in illegal bribes in exchange for coal and nuclear subsidies and cancellation of state climate rules. That scandal led to GOP speaker of the Ohio House Larry Householder being sentenced to 20 years in prison:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_nuclear_bribery_scandal

There is something extraordinarily sleazy about using ratepayers' own money to lobby against their interests. SoCal Gas and its Big Law enablers have funneled millions in Californian's money into campaigns to poison us and boil us alive, and they did it while using workers and racialized people as human shields.

I'm kickstarting the audiobook for "The Internet Con: How To Seize the Means of Computation," a Big Tech disassembly manual to disenshittify the web and make a new, good internet to succeed the old, good internet. It's a DRM-free book, which means Audible won't carry it, so this crowdfunder is essential. Back now to get the audio, Verso hardcover and ebook:

http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/19/cooking-the-books-with-gas/#reichman-jorgensen

Image: Maryland GovPics (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdgovpics/6635539089/

Jackie (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/79874304@N00/197532792

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[yeyinde]

thinking about common law husband simon

(is that a thing in England idk)

(it's no longer a thing in Wales but i haven't lived there in years; it is, however, a thing in Canada)

but what i love the most about common law status is that all it takes is 1-3 years (provincial weirdness notwithstanding). and so many people don't know this. i didn't even know this until i started working in my previous job/industry and they said had i had to treat partners living together for 3 or more years like a legal entity. it was such a shock lmao because what??? though, they don't have certain rights to assets that married couples have so there's that, i guess!

but still. Ghost knowing this and just slyly declaring himself your common law spouse is just so perfect and now i can't stop thinking about it either. manipulating the system to score a spouse. incredible.

[an-ruraiocht]

doing something this weekend that's really stressful and anxiety-inducing for me (it's an important part of trauma recovery!!! I tell myself through gritted teeth) and the first part of it starts in half an hour so I probs need to head over there in about 15 mins and unfortunately I am physically and mentally at my limit from several hours of low-grade (and occasionally high-grade) sensory overload so. good. that'll be fun 🙃

[thecolorblockcurator]

🌈✨Hey everyone I could use your help ✨🌈

Having a little bit of an emergency money situation here our utilities suddenly increased on top of some other unexpected expenses. After 2 very very slow months of sales in my shop I could use some help.

Some ways you can help if you want:

Buy a Commissioned illustration!

Get a tarot reading!

Check out my shop!

Like my work but don’t want to buy something physical I offer digital downloads for $10 of all my pieces. Just message/email me.

Or

Check out my tip jar in my linktree

[smashwolfen]

Was finishing off my sketchbook and decided to draw my 2 favourite noble pokemon and experiment with how to draw them! They both are very fluffy in their own way, I love drawing fluff on things!

I will say Wyrdeers horns are weirdly difficult at certain angles, everything else about him is easy! I love his face, good grandpa deer.

Snealser, everytime I do a drawing of her, I feel like she changes somehow and I can never figure out why, I always think I have her and then nope! And what's a Sneasler sketch page without sneaslings to go with her? XD

[hypodermicfroggy]

Since LobCorp and Ruina just went on sale and I know not everyone can afford them (even on sale), I thought I'd reach out and post my community guide in more places to help.

So I decided to try and look in on the PM Community Hub discord. That was a mistake. Five minutes in there, and I don't know how anyone can genuinely tolerate it. Those people are absolute fucking animals.

[itshomobirb]

only a few more days. trying to like. not entirely freak out. things are gonna work fine. but im still a little 🥴

[yawpyawp]

the jacket i got as free swag from my job is literally better quality than the last 3 coats i’ve bought with my own money

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Insull Chats With Guard On Homeward Voyage," Ottawa Citizen. May 1, 1934. Page 3. --- The icy reserve which characterized Samuel Insull in the heyday of his utility might has thawed and the aged prisoner talks freely to reporters and passengers and poses willingly on the SS. Exilona, bearing him to America for trial. He is shown here, left, on deck with Burton Y. Berry, U.S. legation secretary at Istanbul, in whose custody he is returning.

[featuresofinterest]

uh.

[notmoreflippingelves]

🔥Hot take: Anna is the true heroine of Frozen and was done dirty by the creators and is still mistreated by the fanbase too. She deserved more screentime and to be her own person instead of always running after Elsa, she also should have been the 5th element (ice makes no sense!!). Elsa is more selfish/self-centered and co-dependant of the two

Strongly agree | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | Strongly disagree

So I agree in part with this, but I also disagree significantly so it makes sense to split my answer down the middle. I agree that Anna is significantly underrated and underutilized by both the fandom and the creators. I would also agree that Anna is more of the actual protagonist than Elsa, though I'm not sure I would go so far as say one of them is a "true" heroine while the other isn't. (Elsa was narratively an antihero/antivillain in the first movie but her intentions were heroic (if misguided) enough that I don't feel comfortable saying only Anna is "truly" a heroic character).

I also agree that "Elsa (ice) as the fifth element" was monumentally stupid, and it would've been more interesting if Anna had turned out to have powers of her own. (Though not necessarily in the "elements" plot as is). But then again, I think pretty much everything about Frozen 2 is monumentally stupid (though not irredeemably stupid in the way Toy Story 4 is. Frozen 3, you can fix this mess. I believe in you!)

The thing that drives me absolutely off the wall is that the thesis that orients Frozen 2 is the antithesis of that of Frozen 1. (Frozen 1 is oriented around Elsa and Anna learning that they can rely on each other and not be afraid to be part of each other's lives. They don't have to be alone and in fact, can never be alone because they have each other. Frozen 2 is like... "um actually... Elsa is just 'too different' to stay in Anna's life permanently, even if that's what they both want. It's more important for her to be special and magical in isolation. She doesn't have a choice; it's her destiny even though Elsa feeling different and alone for so long is what has historically caused pretty much every problem for both her and Anna in the past. Support systems are for wusses; real peeps embrace rugged individualism." Thanks I hate it.)

Where I disagree with you is that I think you are being a bit unfair in your characterization of Elsa. (Although I will admit to being far more of an Elsa fan than an Anna one...but I do love both, I promise). Elsa is a character that I would describe as being "selfless to the point of selfishness." She has been conditioned into believing that her emotions--and by extension, herself--is always the problem. It's her fault; it's her responsibility. She's trained to see herself as the "most important" but only in the sense that she's the most "dangerous to herself and others."

And while she categorically does not want that, she inevitably ends up centering herself in everything so that she can protect everyone around her. She's probably aware that keeping away from Anna during their childhood hurt them both, but she's been raised to believe that Anna's safety is THE most important thing and therefore, she'll have to do whatever she has to do to maintain it.

I think it's important to remember that Anna's initial accident happened, while she and Elsa were playing and were happy. It's not just anger or sorrow or fear that impacts her powers. It's any and every strong emotion. Elsa believes that the only way to avoid hurting anyone is to keep her emotions as small, concealed and mild as possible. Is it unfair that Anna did not get a say in any of this? Absolutely. She is the one who should've gotten to decide whether staying close to Elsa was "worth the risk." But again, that is the parents' fault just as much as it is Elsa's.

Send me your fandom hot take and I will say what I think about it!

[oneatlatime]

The Chase part 2

Apologies for the technical problems. Battery power must be conserved for necessities, which unfortunately does not include Avatar. But the power's back on now, so!

Picking up from Toph treating a senior citizen like a snooker ball...

I do like how Mai's not shy about participating in Ty Lee's nonsense.

The way Zuko Jr. says "I'll follow this trail" is very menacing.

We're continuing last week's cowboy theme.

This village has the same menacing single windchime as the village in the Spirit World Part One did.

This was may more satisfying than I was expecting! It was completely unfair how easily the Fire Nation ladies defeated Sokka & Katara so getting Appa'd was a nice payoff.

No disability unmocked this episode. Also nice stance from the lizard.

This whole scene with Toph and Iroh has the most beautiful backgrounds. I sense phone wallpapers in my future.

Forget about the visuals, every line of this exchange was golden. Two towering pillars of wisdom and emotional maturity meet for tea and not a soul goes untouched. Also a nice moment of calm in an otherwise frantic episode.

Can this PLEASE be the rock bottom for Zuko. I can only take so much more second hand embarrassment.

Fully-provisioned princess of the fire nation v. sleep-deprived half trained avatar v. starving outlaw who seems to have forgotten to bring his swords, the only weapon he's good at. Place your bets, folks!

Zuko in a nutshell.

Ok so we're getting the whole gang back together.

The whole whole gang.

The whole whole whole gang.

How the hell did they mess up six on one?!?!

A princess can't surrender with honour when she doesn't have any!

That was kind of Katara to offer to help. I didn't expect that.

Final Thoughts

This episode doesn't let up once. Even the break with Toph and Iroh having tea doesn't do much to dispell the rising tension from the chase. The musical stinger that plays over the title card was a surprise bit of foreshadowing in that way.

That tank thing was neat. Shame about what it contained, but that's a really cool design.

Poor Appa was once again the MVP this episode. It was uncomfortable watching him get so exhausted.

It seems like the thin veneer of level-headedness cultivated by Katara over the last season or so is indeed quite thin. It was interesting to see how the different characters reacted to being tired. Sokka was alternatively amped up and completely chilled out, Aang got quiet (until he felt Appa was being insulted), Katara reverted to her early season one characterisation. It's hard to say with Toph, because we've only known her one episode (it feels like more) but I think she just got more Toph-like.

Please let this be the end in Zuko's experiment with independence. He's not good at it. He needs uncle. Points for trying, but he failed, so please bring uncle back.

Sokka low key wins this episode. He's the one with sense, the only one who stays clear-headed when it counts, and it turns out that clear head of his can defeat the pokey thing Ty Lee does.

I don't know how much time is supposed to have passed between picking up Toph and the start of this episode, but I can't help but feel that Toph really got the short end of the stick here. She did give up everything, even if much of what she gave up was not that great for her personally. And in return she got to travel in a way that completely blinds her and get yelled at. Meeting Iroh was a nice consolation prize.

Now I kind of want a story where Toph doesn't come back to the Gaang and instead goes around unleashing bending hell on the earth kingdom.

Was there no b plot or c plot this episode? Everything kind of collided in the final couple of scenes, which I did not see coming.

Frantic is the word I keep coming back to for this episode. Everything fit together nicely. I'll definitely rewatch it when I have the chance to do so in one sitting, without unforseen technical problems.

[dogddays]

“ ay'm ALWAYS careful , ” says he . you know . like a liar .

DogDay   can't   change   his   expression   much,   but   even   without   the   vast   array   of   movements   that   foxy   seems   to   have   --   his   complexion   looks   somehow   incredulous.   a   beat,   before   his   voice box   warbles   to   life.   low   gravelly   tone   ringing   out, despite of the water damage its sustained.   (   𝘩𝘦   𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴   𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥   𝘸𝘩𝘺   𝘩𝘦   𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵   𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥   𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦   𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵   )

❝ as much as I appreciate your attitude, I appreciate you being in one piece more. ❞ can't let it happen again, he can't ---

❝   --- listen   to   me,   this   isn't   the   sort   of   place   you   come   back   from.   I   --   ❞   𝐼'𝑣𝑒   𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡   𝑡𝑜𝑜   𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦   𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠   𝑡𝑜   𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒   𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.   ❝   -- I   need   to   know   you'll   be   careful.   I   need   to   know   you   won't   treat   this   like   a   game !   ❞   a ragged breath from his voice box forcing him to give pause. [ & how cruel to make something that could feel, that could suffer but not DIE so easily. ]

❝   if   they   find   you,   if   they   catch   you,   disassembly   will   be   the   least   of   your   worries   --   ❞   the   voice box   wavers   as   if   it   was   to   cry . . .   yet   no   tears   spring   forth.   perhaps   he   just   didn't   have   any   left.

❝   -- they   will   tear   you   apart,   crawl   beneath   your   shell,   ravenous,   hungry,   searching.   and   if   they   can't   find   anything to fill themselves,   they'll   warp   you   into   something   that   can   be   USED. burrow into your mind until your thoughts aren't your own, until you do things you'd never do.   forced   to   survive   --   to   serve   that   . . .   thing.   𝘛𝘩𝘦   𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦.   ❞

he   sounds   desperate,   voice   straining   and   guttural   before   losing   momentum   and   softening   as   he   pleas   in   an   airy   tone.   ❝   promise me, promise me you won't pick a fight alone -- promise me you'll come back.   ❞

° ˈ· • [ 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙿𝚃 ] • ·ˈ°

[misforgotten2]

Oh poor baby, no longer getting to gouge the working poor to pay for that 2nd vacation home? My heart bleeds.

Collier's June 22nd 1956

[thedisablednaturalist]

Unfortunately all chatgpt is good for is interview/job application stuff which I think says a lot about the hiring process as a whole