Contact: Nina Zvaleko 

(323) 899-0698 
convergingstorms@gmail.com 

March 29, 2020 

 
Senator Scott Wiener 
State Capitol, Room 5100 
Sacramento, CA 
95814-4900  

Dear Senator Wiener: 

On  behalf  of  Converging  Storms  Action  Network,  we  write  to  ​express  strong  support  for  SB  917,  which 
will  turn  Pacific  Gas  &  Electric  Company  (PG$E)  into  a  publicly  owned  utility  (POU).  The  numerous  and 
increasingly  lethal  wildfires  and  mass  blackouts  are  not  isolated  incidents.  These  are  the  kinds  of 
catastrophes  we  have  repeatedly  experienced from privately owned energy companies.  Leaving energy 
(a  basic  human  need)  in  private  hands  is  dangerous  and  criminal.  Energy  really  matters!  Energy  is 
essential  to  all  life  on  earth.  Without  energy,  nothing  moves,  and  nothing  happens.  Energy  owners 
decide  what  we  extract,  use,  and  how  we  use  it,  including  tapping  unique  and  finite  energy sources.  To 
private energy companies and their investors, growth for profit comes first, despite the dangers. 

At  the  Los  Angeles  Department  of  Water  and  Power  (LADWP)  Brown  Act  Compliant  meetings,  we  have 
have  educated  and pressured our board, and presented and won viable options, including: the shut down 
of  gas  plant  expansions;  moved  LA  off  of  coal;  ever  expanded  solar  energy  systems;  and  won the large 
ELAND  battery  storage  facility  which  is  now  being  built.  ​PG&E’s  successor  POU,  the  Northern  California 
Energy Utility District, will provide these same opportunities to all Northern Californians. 

The Converging Storms Action Network (CSAN) is a Los Angeles-based network of activists from diverse 
arenas whose shared and comprehensive analytic framework, as well as its strategies, activities, and 
actions, centrally address the converging (and increasingly urgent!) crises of energy, capitalism, and 
environment. 

Sincerely, 

Harriet Aronow, Hamid Assian, Nina Zvaleko, Daryl Gale, Katherine McNenny, Ty An Li

For 

Converging Storms Action Network

Challenging the Crisis of Energy, Capitalism, & Environment
https://convergingstorms.com/campaign-for-energy-democracy