The proposed reorganization of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which is currently in federal bankruptcy court, could spell bad news for thousands of acres of pristine landscape in the Sierra Nevada. Right now, PG&E is supervised by the California Public Utilities Commission, whose regulatory structure requires strict environmental protection and encourages public access to the company’s 140,000 acres of watershed and timberlands. But all that could change if PG&E, which suffered huge financial losses during the state’s energy crisis last spring, divides into 26 smaller corporations that would operate under the less-eco-friendly authority of federal energy regulators.
