While clearing papers on my desk, I discivered a letter telling me a California Public Utilities Commission investigation recently determined that "in some instances, PG&E had failed to issue bills at regular intervals based on actual metered data", and had also incorrectly issued backbills beyond the tariffed time limits. As a result, the CPUC ordered PG&E to repay about $35 million in unauthorized charges, at shareholder expense.
Turns out we're part of the settlement class, and our share is almost $600. (Check was enclosed.) That'll pay for the replacement I just ordered for babylon5's rapidly-failing monitor¹... and just for gravy, I also discovered an overlooked Form 1098E that kicks our Federal tax refund up by slightly over $300.
It's not every day you find almost $1000 just by tidying your desk.
[1] The old monitor is a Sun 90D10, which is a Sun-branded Sony GDM-W900 24" widescreen CRT, which I run at 1920x1200 resolution. Weighs 120 pounds and draws 200 watts. I'm replacing it with a Hanns-G HG281DPB 28" widescreen LCD at the same resolution that weighs 24lb and draws less than half the power. (I'd have linked to the manufacturer's site, except it's a horribly slow and all but unusable all-Flash abortion. Their Web designer needs to be repeatedly kicked in the balls.)