Palo Alto and Santa Clara both have "city owned utilities". Those utilities don't produce power, they don't bring power into the cities, they may not even distribute power within the cities.
What they do do is buy power and sell it to the residents.
Thanks to 1930s laws, they get first claim on the least expensive power sources in California.
Both Santa Clara and Palo Alto "power companies" have also managed to minimize the "hey, there's a large pile of money and if we only raise rates just a bit, think of all the good that we could do."
I mention that because San Jose has started a local "utility" that doesn't have appreciably lower rates than PG&E.
What they do do is buy power and sell it to the residents.
Thanks to 1930s laws, they get first claim on the least expensive power sources in California.
Both Santa Clara and Palo Alto "power companies" have also managed to minimize the "hey, there's a large pile of money and if we only raise rates just a bit, think of all the good that we could do."
I mention that because San Jose has started a local "utility" that doesn't have appreciably lower rates than PG&E.