PG&E Launches Clean Energy Investment Firm

Pacific Gas and Electric's bankruptcy may be good for the environment, in an odd twist:

One last twist in Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s bankruptcy case may help create clean energy firms in California.

When the utility emerged from bankruptcy court last year, it agreed to spend $30 million to establish an investment fund that would nurture young companies focused on clean-energy technology. Their products could include ways to tap renewable energy, improve power storage or boost efficiency.

The investment fund now has a name -- the California Clean Energy Fund -- a nine-member board and a president. Today, the fund will announce that it has teamed with three Silicon Valley venture capital firms to search for promising startups.

That's a good start. Even if alternate energy will only provide a slim portion of our electricity needs, investments in it--and clean-burning fuels like natural gas--are important for the State's future.