Festival Year: 2022, 2018

David Garrett Byars

Roles: Director

I moved to California in 2017. Within weeks of settling down, my family and I were forced to evacuate due to a wildfire. When it became apparent that the fire was caused by faulty electric infrastructure, I dug into the topic. What I discovered baffled and infuriated me. Not only was the electric grid owned by one company, that same company was guaranteed a government-mandated profit from the pockets of California electric users. In other words, money that could be used for infrastructure and safety measures was lining the pockets of executives with stock bonuses and wealthy shareholders. Soon after this fire, the company requested a raise in those government-mandated profits. So when I learned that, in Europe, there was a burgeoning movement to take back the grid from government-supported, for-profit monopolies, I jumped at the chance to make the film.

Festival Year: 2022, 2018

38:00

We the Power

(US, 2020, 38min)