The government taketh.

The government taketh again.

The government giveth a little back.

Then the government taketh back what they giveth plus even more.

You might want to keep that in mind this winter.

Sacramento no longer is Taxamento.

They’re graduated to outright deception.

If you’re a PG&E customer — as if you had a choice — you will have noticed a $39.30 “electric adjustment” on your October billing statement.

This is not PG&E sharing its profits with you.

This is money Sacramento has taken from you via policies that have forced primarily energy providers such as power companies and oil firms to “buy” greenhouse credits in order to stay in business in California.

Firms that have to pollute to provide energy and such are forced to purchase credits to offset the government allowing them to pollute.

Part of the credit has been used for such things as reforesting parts of Georgia — bet you didn’t know the Peach State was part of California — and underwriting the financial blockhole known as high speed rail.

You know the one. It was supposed to be finished in a couple of years from now connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco for $40 billion.

Of course, that was a deceptive lie back in 2008. It’s no different than the California Climate Credit deception spawned from the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

Voters were hoodwinked into buying into high speed rail back in 2008.

Eager investors, voters were told, would be tripping over each other to help pay for the tab.

Today, the cost is now pegged at $105 billion. And not a single investor — including those blowing billions on questionable Silicon Valley startups — have even contributed a penny to the project.

Meanwhile, trains won’t be running between Bakersfield and Merced until at least 2032.

And when they finally start running between The City of Angels and the town Tony Bennett would no longer recognize, the one-way ticket won’t be for the promised $105 given a Happy Meal in 2045 will likely cost that much plus some loose change.

If the preceding strikes you as a little bit off track when it comes to the start of the column that’s because the $39.30 California Climates Credit that has been “bestowed” upon you is chump change compared to what the state has taken from your pocket in order to “give it” to you is off track as well.

The electric adjustment was added to the green power policy mix so it would pay dividends for average Californians. It’s a deception, pure and simple, to get Californians to happily drink the Kool-Aid.

Think tanks not affiliated with the greenies or the energy sector peg the greenhouse gas tax oil companies must pay that they collapse into the price of gas is roughly 10 cents a gallon.

Assuming you are a typical Bay Area commuter from the Northern San Joaquin Valley and get around 25 miles per gallon plus toss in 100  miles a week for running errands that’s costing you $4.40 a week or more than $220 a year.

That means that $39.30 “electric adjustment” on your PG&E bill cost you $180.70. And that doesn’t include what PG&E had to collapse into their power rates to pay the greenhouse gas tax as well.

But wait, there’s more.

Federal and state energy policies are sending energy prices and gasoline prices into the stratosphere this winter.

You know the ones. They are the green power initiatives being forced on the market .

No one is saying green power shouldn’t be the ultimate goal.

But when you cram it down the throats of a marketplace that can’t adjust quick enough, you create scarcity issues as well as drive up prices.

Mock Gov. Gavin Newsom if you will, but at least he’s trying to somewhat steer California away from the sparkling green iceberg the state is barreling down at full speed ahead.

It is why — much to the dismay of the “green-at-all-cost” segment of the climate change lobby — Newsom is working to extend the life of PG&E’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant beyond August 2025.

Diablo Canyon accounts for 10 percent of the state’s daily electricity consumption.

Imagine talking that off line forever at the same time drought is cutting seriously into electricity generated from hydro plants that account for 7.4 percent of the state’s power.

The power production numbers are for 2021 and were compiled by the California Energy Commission.

Going back to the $39.30 “savings” on your October PG&E bill. You’d better put the money you would have sent to the for-profit utility to cover that amount and then some more aside.

That’s because those channeling Greta Thunberg have a surprise for you this winter.

According to the United States Energy Administration between this month and March natural gas is going  to increase 28 percent, electricity 10 percent, and propane 5 percent.

That’s because supply is outstripping demand as green policies take coal plants off line. Wind and solar are not even close to bridging the shortfall federal and state energy policies are creating.

It also doesn’t help that Russia and Ukraine are at war and the United States is seriously making it risky for oil companies to produce more oil and natural gas in this country.

The politicians can say what they want but would you invest billions into needed infrastructure to expand fossil fuel production if the federal and state governments have made it clear they intend to start killing you off for good in 2035?

It gets worse.

The push is on in Sacramento to ban natural gas to heat new construction starting in 2030. That also means existing natural gas systems, when they go out, will have to be replaced with electric heating systems.

Besides the expense of converting to electrical heating systems,  it costs 31 percent more to heat a home with electricity than natural gas.

That means the Climate Change Credit dispersed each year via PG&E bills so the state can lull you into buying into the state’s aggressive green energy policies, won’t even be a full drop in the bucket compared to the expenses you have — and are now being saddled with — and will be forced to incur in the coming years.

Rest assured you’ll be green alright.

Green as in green around the gills worrying about how to keep your family warm and fed at the same time.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com