That is the disastrous path that Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, and San Diego Gas & Electric are now planning to follow. ABC 7 in Los Angeles reported Friday that the three utility giants “filed a joint proposal this week for a flat-rate charge based on income.” Not a flat-rate charge, period, but one based on how much money you make. “The plan would break monthly bills in two parts: The fixed-income rate, plus a reduced usage charge based on consumption. Under the proposal, it would cost as little as $15 a month for low-income households and up to $85 more per month for households making more than $180,000 a year.”
What the utility companies don’t realize, because Marxists never realize, is that they will thereby be incentivizing being a low-income household and penalizing those making more than $180,000 a year. They will thus get more low-income households and fewer that make more than $180,000 a year. The old Marxist adage, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” rewards having a need, but not having an ability: those who produce are essentially made the slaves of those who do not. Since no one loves being a slave, this means that there will progressively be fewer people who have ability and ever more who have need. That’s the real “progress” to which Leftist “progressives” are leading us today.
All this is in the works in California because this is the way Gavin Newsom’s state government wants it: “The income-based bill proposal is part of the companies’ compliance with legislation passed by the California state government last year requiring these types of plans for utilities. The California Public Utilities Commission would have to approve the proposal and make a final decision by mid-2024. The fixed rate could start showing up on bills as soon as 2025.” After that, watch for the wall to be built around California to keep those who are productive from escaping becoming slaves to “equity,” unless the whole country has embraced Marxism by then.