It's overpriced hardware
Have you seen the M4 benchmarks?
If you're memory bound then sure, you can get way more bang for your buck with Intel/AMD. But for pretty amazing CPU performance I think the "Apple is overpriced" trope isn't really true any more.
The exorbitant PG&E charges are usually "delivery charges," not the "generation charge" iirc. So we're paying reasonable rates for cheap, clean energy, but we're getting charged out the ass for getting the electricity to our home.
It sucks either way, but charging for delivery sucks more because on top of it all if we run solar and sell back to the grid we only get the generation charge (which is minimal). At least, that's my understanding
we don't currently have a home solar installation.