The Future of a Bankrupt PG&E May Be a Breakup
- San Francisco to explore buying chunk of troubled utility
- Municipal takeovers could create service disparities
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PG&E Corp.’s looming bankruptcy could lead to an unprecedented spectacle -- a major American power company being taken over by the state or broken up for city governments to run.
More often, it works the other way. Local governments have a long history of selling off municipal utilities, switching them from the public sector to the private. Witness the ongoing efforts to privatize Puerto Rico’s troubled power authority.