The problem with government-protected utility monopolies

Just a few months back it was noted that California was suffering through a resurgence of medieval diseases. Another plague of premodern times now threatens to visit the state this summer: darkness.
Bloomberg News reported that “California may go dark this summer.”
Pacific Gas & Electric plans to cut power when the wind blows hard during the upcoming wildfire season, which “could plunge millions of residents into darkness.”
The utility is skittish due to last fall&rsq