PG&E Corp

Early history

San Francisco Gas

In the 1850s, manufactured gas was introduced to the United States for lighting. Larger American cities in the east built gasworks, but the west had no gas industry. San Francisco had street lights only on Merchant Street, in the form of oil lamps.

Three brothers—Peter, James, and Michael Donahue—ran the foundry that became the Union Iron Works, the largest shipbuilding operation on the West Coast, and became interested in manufacturing gas Joseph G. Eastland, an engineer and clerk at the foundry, joined them in gathering information. In July 1852, James applied for and received from the Common Council of the City of San Francisco a franchise to erect a gasworks, lay pipes in the streets and install street lamps to light the city with "brilliant gas". The council specified that gas should be supplied to households "at such rates as will make it to their interest to use it in preference to any other material". Eastland and the Donahue brothers incorporated the San Francisco Gas Company on August 31, 1852, with $150,000 of authorized capital. It became the first gas utility in the West. Its official seal bore the inscription " Fiat Lux "—let there be light—the same slogan later adopted by the University of California. There were 11 original stockholders, and the three Donahue brothers subscribed for 610 of the 1,500 shares.

The original location for the gas works was bounded by First, Fremont, Howard and Natoma streets south of Market, on what was then the shore of the San Francisco Bay. Work on the plant started in November 1852, and finished a few months later. On the night of February 11, 1854, the streets of San Francisco were for the first time lighted by gas. To celebrate the event, the company held a gala banquet at the Oriental Hotel. Gas lighting quickly gained public favor. In the first year of operation, the company had 237 customers. That number more than doubled the next year, to 563. By the end of 1855, the company had laid more than 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles of pipe and 154 street lamps were in operation.

The growing popularity of gas light led to competing gas companies, including the Aubin Patent Gas Company and Citizens Gas Company. The San Francisco Gas Company quickly acquired these smaller rivals. However, one rival did provide serious competition. The Bank of California founded the City Gas Company in April 1870 to compete with the gas monopoly held by the Donahue brothers' operation. City Gas began operation in 1872 and initiated a price war with the San Francisco Gas Company. In 1873, the two companies negotiated a consolidation as a compromise and the Bank of California gained part ownership of "the most lucrative gas monopoly in the West". On April 1, 1873, the San Francisco Gas Light Company was formed, representing a merger of the San Francisco Gas Company, the City Gas Company, and the Metropolitan Gas Company.

San Francisco Gas and Electric

Gas utilities, including San Francisco Gas Light, faced new competition with the introduction of electric lighting to California. In 1879, San Francisco became the first city in the world to have a central generating station for electric customers, instead of individual generators colocated with the loads. To stay competitive, the San Francisco Gas Light Company introduced the Argand lamp that same year. The lamp increased the light capacity of gas street lamps, but proved to be an expensive improvement and was not generally adopted. Meanwhile, the demand for electric light in the stores and factories of downtown San Francisco continued to grow. The first electric street light was erected in 1888 in front of City Hall, and the electrical grid supporting it was gradually extended. A second generating station was constructed in 1888 by the California Electric Light Company to increase production capacity.

New competition also emerged in the 1880s in the form of water gas, an improved illuminant patented by Thaddeus Lowe. The United Gas Improvement Company, a water gas manufacturer organized after purchasing the Lowe gas patents, acquired a lease and then an interest in San Francisco's Central Gas Light Company on November 1, 1883. United was acquired by the Pacific Gas Improvement Company in 1884. Under the management of president Albert Miller, Pacific Gas Improvement developed into a formidable competitor to San Francisco Gas Light. His sons, Horace A. Miller and C. O. G. Miller (Christian Otto Gerberding Miller), acting as Secretary and President, respectively, eventually owned and controlled not only the Pacific Gas Improvement Company but also the Pacific Gas Lighting Company (Pacific Lighting Company).

In 1888, San Francisco Gas Light built its own water gas plant at the Potrero gas works. The manufacturing of water gas proved successful due to the increased availability of inexpensive petroleum. The company decided to construct a modern gas works with both updated water gas manufacturing technology and a modern coal-gas plant as a hedge against shortages in the supply of oil. In 1891, the North Beach Gas Works was completed under the direction of San Francisco Gas Light president and engineer Joseph B. Crockett. The facility was the largest gas holder in the U.S. west of Chicago.

In 1896, the Edison Light and Power Company merged with the San Francisco Gas Light Company to form the new San Francisco Gas and Electric Company. Consolidation of gas and electric companies solved problems for both utilities by eliminating competition and producing economic savings through joint operation. Other companies that began operation as active competitors but eventually merged into the San Francisco Gas and Electric Company included the Equitable Gas Light Company, the Independent Electric Light and Power Company, and the Independent Gas and Power Company. In 1903, the company purchased its main competitor for gas lighting, the Pacific Gas Improvement Company.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company

John Martin and Eugene J. de Sabla, started out as gold miners along the Yuba River, harnessing hydroelectric power, building hydro plants in Nevada City (1895), and Northern California.

In the early 1890s, Martin, de Sabla, Alfonso Tregidgo, and later, Romulus Riggs Colgate, began developing a hydroelectric powerhouse on the South Fork of the Yuba River.

In 1899, Martin and de Sabla formed Yuba Power Company. In 1900, Martin and de Sabla created the Bay Counties Power Company, constructing a 140-mile transmission line for an electric railway in Oakland. In 1903, John Martin and Eugene de Sabla started the California Gas & Electric Company to acquire and merge gas and electric power businesses, and bought many utilities like Oakland Gas Light & Heat Company, United Gas & Electric Company, and, in 1905, San Francisco Gas & Electric Company.

In 1905, Martin and de Sabla formed Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

According to PG&E's 2012 history timeline on their webpage, the San Francisco Gas and Electric Company and the California Gas and Electric Corporation merged to form the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) on October 10, 1905. The consolidation gave the California Gas and Electric Corporation access to the large San Francisco market and a base for further financing. The San Francisco Gas and Electric Company, in turn, was able to reinforce its electric system, which until then had been powered entirely by steam-operated generating plants, which could not compete with lower cost hydroelectric power. After the merger, engineers and management from each organization made plans to coordinate and unify the two systems. However, the two firms maintained separate corporate identities until 1911.

PG&E began delivering natural gas to San Francisco and northern California in 1930. The longest pipeline in the world connected the Texas gas fields to northern California, with compressor stations that included cooling towers every 300 miles (480 km), at Topock, Arizona, on the state line, and near the town of Hinkley, California. With the introduction of natural gas, the company began retiring its polluting gas manufacturing facilities, although it did keep some plants on standby. Today a network of eight compressor stations linked by "40,000 miles of distribution pipelines and over 6,000 miles of transportation pipelines" serves "4.2 million customers from Bakersfield to the Oregon border".

In the 1950s and 1960s, at both the Topock and Hinkley compressor stations, a hexavalent chromium additive was used to prevent rust in the cooling towers, which later was the cause of the Hinkley groundwater contamination. It disposed of the water from the cooling towers "adjacent to the compressor stations".

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake

PG&E was significantly affected by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The company's assorted central offices were damaged by the quake and destroyed by the subsequent fire. Its San Francisco Gas and Electric Company subsidiary in particular suffered significant infrastructure loss, as its distribution systems—miles of gas mains and electric wires—were dissevered. Only two gas and two electric plants, all located far from the city, survived the destruction. These functioning facilities—including the new 4,000,000-foot crude oil gas works at Potrero Generating Station —played critical roles in San Francisco's rebuilding efforts. Many of PG&E's utility competitors ceased operation following the Great Earthquake. The company's substantial capital allowed it to survive, rebuild, and expand.

Sacramento Electric, Gas and Railway Company

In 1906, PG&E purchased the Sacramento Electric, Gas and Railway Company and took control of its railway operations in and around Sacramento. The Sacramento City Street Railway began operating under the Pacific Gas & Electric name in 1915, and its track and services subsequently expanded. By 1931 the Sacramento Street Railway Division operated 75 streetcars on 47 miles (76 km) of track. PG&E's streetcars were powered by the company's hydroelectric plant in Folsom. In 1943, PG&E sold the rail service to Pacific City Lines, which was later acquired by National City Lines. Several streetcar lines were soon converted to bus service, and the track was abandoned entirely in 1947.

During this same period, Pacific City Lines and its successor, National City Lines, with funding from General Motors, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California (through a subsidiary, Federal Engineering), Phillips Petroleum, and Mack Trucks, were buying streetcar lines and rapidly converting most of them to bus service. This consortium was convicted in 1949 of federal charges involving conspiracy to monopolize interstate commerce in the sale of buses and supplies to National City Lines and its subsidiaries. The actions became known as the Great American Streetcar Scandal or the General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy.

Further consolidation and expansion

Within a few years of its incorporation, PG&E made significant inroads into Northern California 's hydroelectric industry through purchase of existing water storage and conveyance facilities. These included many reservoirs, dams, ditches and flumes built by mining interests in the Sierras that were no longer commercially viable. By 1914, PG&E was the largest integrated utility system on the Pacific Coast. The company handled 26 percent of the electric and gas business in California. Its operations spanned 37,000 square miles across 30 counties.

The company expanded in the 1920s through strategic consolidation. Important acquisitions during this period included the California Telephone and Light Company, the Western States Gas and Electric Company and the Sierra and San Francisco Power Company, which provided hydropower to San Francisco's streetcars. These three companies added valuable properties and power and water sources. By the end of 1927, PG&E had nearly one million customers and provided electricity to 300 Northern Californian communities.

In 1930, PG&E purchased majority stock holdings in two major Californian utility systems—Great Western Power and San Joaquin Light and Power —from The North American Company, a New York investment firm. In return, North American received shares of PG&E's common stock worth $114 million. PG&E also gained control of two smaller utilities, Midland Counties Public Service and the Fresno Water Company, which was later sold. The acquisition of these utilities did not result in an immediate merger of property and personnel. The Great Western Power Company and the San Joaquin Company remained separate corporate entities for several more years. But through this final major consolidation, PG&E soon served nearly all of Northern and Central California through one integrated system.

Natural gas

The gas industry market structure was dramatically altered by the discovery of massive natural gas fields throughout the American Southwest beginning in 1918. The fuel was cleaner than manufactured gas and less expensive to produce. While natural gas sources were abundant in Southern California, no economical sources were available in Northern California. In 1929, PG&E constructed a 300-mile pipeline from the Kettleman oil field to bring natural gas to San Francisco. The city became the first major urban area to switch from manufactured gas to natural gas. The transition required the adjustment of burners and airflow valves on 1.75 million appliances. In 1936, PG&E expanded distribution with an additional 45-mile pipeline from Milpitas. PG&E gradually retired its gas manufacturing facilities, although some plants were kept on standby.

Defense activities boosted natural gas sales in California during World War II, but cut deeply into the state's natural reserves. In 1947, PG&E entered into a contract with the Southern California Gas Company and the Southern Counties Gas Company to purchase natural gas through a new 1,000-mile pipeline running from Texas and New Mexico to Los Angeles. Another agreement was reached with the El Paso Natural Gas Company of Texas for gas delivery to the California-Arizona border. In 1951, PG&E completed a 502-mile main that connected with the El Paso network at the state line.

During this period of expansion, PG&E was involved in legal proceedings with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the company's status as a subsidiary of the North American Company. As outlined by the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, a utility subsidiary was defined as a utility company with more than 10% of their stock held by a public utility holding company. Though 17% of PG&E stock was held by the North American Company at this time, PG&E filed with the SEC to be exempted from subsidiary status on the grounds that 17% ownership did not give the North American Company control and because the North American Company occupied only two board member spots. The North American Company backed PG&E's request by stating that they were involved in business operations in a limited capacity. The request remained unresolved until 1945 when the North American Company sold off stocks that brought its ownership to below 10%. The SEC then ruled that PG&E was not a subsidiary of the North American Company. In 1948, the North American Company sold its remaining stock in PG&E.

Nuclear plants and gas pipelines

In 1957, the company brought online Vallecitos Nuclear Center, the first privately owned and operated nuclear reactor in the United States, in Pleasanton, California. The reactor initially produced 5,000 kilowatts of power, enough to power a town of 12,000.

In addition to nuclear power, PG&E continued to develop natural gas supplies as well. In 1959, the company began working to obtain approval for the import of a large quantity of natural gas from Alberta, Canada to California, via a pipeline constructed by Westcoast Transmission Co. and the Alberta and Southern Gas Company on the Canadian side, and by Pacific Gas Transmission Company, a subsidiary of PG&E, on the U.S. side. Construction of the pipeline lasted 14 months. Testing began in 1961, and the completed 1,400-mile pipeline was dedicated in early 1962.

PG&E began construction on another nuclear facility, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, in 1968. Originally slated to come online in 1979, the plant's opening was delayed for several years due to environmental protests and concerns over the safety of the plant's construction. Testing of the plant began in 1984, and energy production was brought up to full power in 1985.

During the construction of the Diablo Canyon plant, PG&E continued its efforts to bring natural gas supplies from the North to their service area in California. In 1972, the company began exploring possibilities for a 3,000-mile pipeline from Alaska, which would travel through the Mackenzie River Valley and on to join with the previously constructed pipeline originating in Alberta.

In 1977 the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline project received approval from the U.S. Federal Power Commission and support from the Carter Administration. The pipeline still required approval from Canada. Plans for the pipeline were placed on hold in 1977 by a Canadian judge. Justice Thomas R. Berger of British Columbia shelved the project for at least 10 years, citing concerns from First Nations groups, whose land the pipeline would have traversed, as well as potential environmental impacts.

In 1984 the great-grandson of PG&E's founder George H. Roe—David Roe published his book entitled Dynamos and Virgins during the time when there was a growing antinuclear-power movement. David Roe, who was an environmentalist and the Environmental Defense Fund 's West Coast general counsel, "mounted an assault on the longstanding assumption that steady growth in coal- and nuclear-generating capacity was the only solution to the nation's energy needs". He based his arguments on an economic analysis "aimed at showing that a shift to energy conservation and alternative energy sources alone could slake the thirst for electricity".

1990s, deregulation, and decline

As of December 1992, PG&E operated 173 electric generating units and 85 generating stations, 18,450 miles (29,690 km) of transmission lines and 101,400 miles (163,200 km) of distribution system. [ citation needed ]

In 1997, PG&E reorganized as a holding company, PG&E Corporation. [ citation needed ] It consisted of two subsidiaries—PG&E, the regulated utility, and a non-regulated energy business. [ citation needed ]

In the later 1990s, under electricity market deregulation this utility sold off most of its natural gas power plants. [ citation needed ] The utility retained all of its hydroelectric plants, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant and a few natural gas plants, but the large natural gas plants it sold made up a large portion of its generating capacity. [ citation needed ] This had the effect of requiring the utility to buy power from the energy generators at fluctuating prices, while being forced to sell the power to consumers at a fixed cost. [ citation needed ] The market for electricity was dominated by the Enron Corporation, which, with help from other corporations, artificially pushed prices for electricity ever higher. [ citation needed ] This led to the California electricity crisis that began in 2000 on Path 15, a transmission corridor PG&E built. [ citation needed ]

With a critical power shortage, rolling blackouts began on January 17, 2001. [ citation needed ]

1990s fires

In 1994, PG&E caused the Trauner Fire in Nevada County, California through criminal negligence. The fire burned many acres of land and destroyed a schoolhouse and twelve homes near the town of Rough and Ready, California. PG&E was found guilty of causing the fire and of 739 counts of criminal negligence.

In 1996, one of PG&E's substations in the Mission District of San Francisco caught fire. PG&E was eventually found legally culpable for the fire due to criminal negligence, according to an investigation in 2003.

The 1999 Pendola Fire in the Plumas and Tahoe National Forests burned nearly 12,000 acres and was found to have been caused by poor vegetation management by PG&E.

2001 bankruptcy

In 1998, a change in the regulation of California's public utilities, including PG&E, began. The California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) set the rates that PG&E could charge customers and required them to provide as much power as the customers wanted at rates set by the CPUC.

In the summer of 2001 a drought in the northwest states and in California reduced the amount of hydroelectric power available. Usually PG&E could buy "cheap" hydroelectric power under long-term contracts with the Bonneville Dam and other sources. Drought and delays in approval of new power plants and market manipulation decreased available electric power generation capacity that could be generated in state or bought under long-term contracts out of state. Hot weather brought on higher usage, rolling blackouts, and other problems.

With little excess generating capacity of its own, PG&E was forced to buy electricity out of state from suppliers without long-term contracts. Because PG&E had to buy additional electricity to meet demand, some suppliers took advantage of this requirement and manipulated the market by creating artificial shortages and charged very high electrical rates, as exemplified by the Enron scandal. The CPUC refused to adjust the allowable electric rates. Unable to change rates and sell electricity to consumers for what it cost them on the open market PG&E started hemorrhaging cash.

PG&E Company (the utility, not the holding company) entered bankruptcy under Chapter 11 on April 6, 2001. The state of California tried to bail out the utility and provide power to PG&E's 5.1 million customers under the same rules that required the state to buy electricity at market rate high cost to meet demand and sell it at a lower fixed price, and as a result, the state also lost significant amounts of money. The crisis cost PG&E and the state somewhere between $40 and $45 billion.

PG&E Company, the utility, emerged from bankruptcy in April 2004, after paying $10.2 billion to its hundreds of creditors. As part of the reorganization, PG&E's 5.1 million electricity customers will have to pay above-market prices for several years to cancel the debt. [ citation needed ] [ when? ]

South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID)

In 2009 the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) unanimously approved a resolution that would allow the South San Joaquin Irrigation District to purchase PG&E's electric facilities in Manteca, Ripon and Escalon. In March 2016, San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Carter Holly has rejected PG&E claims that South San Joaquin Irrigation District lacks sufficient revenues to provide electrical retail service to the cities of Manteca, Ripon, and Escalon and surrounding farms." The Municipal Service Review (MSR) found that SSJID's customer rates would be 15 percent lower than PG&E rates.

2019 bankruptcy

Chronology

Facing potential liabilities of $30 billion from multiple wildfires in the years 2015–2018, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), on January 14, 2019, began the process of filing for bankruptcy with a 15-day notice of intention to file for bankruptcy protection. On January 29, 2019, PG&E Corporation, the parent corporation of PG&E, filed for bankruptcy protection. Because fire survivors are unsecured creditors with the same priority as bondholders, they would only be paid in proportion to their claim size if anything is left after secured and priority claims are paid; this nearly ensured that they will not get paid in full. [ when? ] PG&E had a deadline of June 30, 2020 to exit bankruptcy in order to participate in the California state wildfire insurance fund established by AB 1054 that helps utilities pay for future wildfire claims.

On August 16, 2019, liability for the Tubbs Fire was potentially added when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali ruled that a fast-track state jury trial could proceed to resolve who is at fault for the Tubbs Fire. Cal Fire determined that customer equipment was at fault, but lawyers representing wildfire victims claimed that PG&E equipment was at fault. This trial was scheduled to begin January 7, 2020 in San Francisco. The court case was superseded by the Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA) of December 9, 2019 and by the approved bankruptcy reorganization plan, wherein PG&E accepted liability for the Tubbs Fire.

Liability for the Kincade Fire that started October 23, 2019 was potentially added, because initially it was unknown whether or not PG&E was at fault for the fire. On July 16, 2020, which was after PG&E exited bankruptcy, Cal Fire reported that the fire was caused by PG&E transmission lines. Damages would not be covered by the settlement for wildfire victims that was part of the PG&E bankruptcy.

PG&E settled for $1 billion with state and local governments in June, 2019, and settled for $11 billion with insurance carriers and hedge funds in September, 2019. Representatives for wildfire victims say PG&E owes $54 billion or more, and PG&E was offering $8.4 billion for fire damages, Cal Fire, and FEMA. If more than 500 homes were completely destroyed by the Kincade Fire, and PG&E was found to be at fault, then the parties agreeing to the settlements may have the option to back out of the agreements. Later PG&E offered a $13.5 billion fund to cover claims of the wildfire victims. FEMA originally requested PG&E for $3.9 billion from the wildfire victims fund, threatening to take the money from individual wildfire victims if PG&E did not pay, and Cal OES had an overlapping $2.3 billion request, but they later settled for $1 billion after all wildfire victims are paid.

Claims for wildfire victims consist of wrongful death, personal injuries, property loss, business losses, and other legal damages. U.S. District Judge James Donato was assigned to the estimation process for the claims of wildfire victims, including whether or not personal injury and wrongful death claims can include damages due to emotional distress. Judge Donato was scheduled to begin hearings February 18, 2020 to determine how to do the estimation and how much PG&E needs to put in a trust fund for wildfire victims. Bankruptcy judge Montali said that the costs to government agencies will not be subject to the estimation process because those costs can be calculated "down to the penny". The court case was superseded by the Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA) of December 9, 2019 and by the approved bankruptcy reorganization plan.

On October 9, 2019, Judge Montali allowed the proposed reorganization plan of the senior bondholders to be considered along with PG&E's proposed plan. The proposal of the senior bondholders had the support of the committee of wildfire victims, who said their claims may be worth $13.5 billion. The proposal of the senior bondholders would give them control of the company with PG&E shareholders losing out, and PG&E called the proposal an "unjustified windfall". Later PG&E reached an agreement with the bondholders and the committee of wildfire victims so that PG&E's proposed plan would be the only plan under consideration and the bondholders would not take control of the company.

On November 12, 2019, PG&E in its proposed reorganization plan provided an additional $6.6 billion for the claims of wildfire victims and other claimants, increasing the amount to $13.5 billion, similar to the amount in the rival reorganization proposal of the senior bondholders. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), this puts the total amount for fire claims at $25.5 billion. This consists of $11 billion to insurance companies and investment funds, $1 billion to state and local governments, and $13.5 billion for other claims. The $11 billion settlement to insurance companies and investment funds was opposed by the state of California Governor Gavin Newsom and by the committee of wildfire victims. Later Governor Newsom and the wildfire victims approved the bankruptcy reorganization plan.

On December 6, 2019, PG&E proposed to settle the wildfire victim claims for a total of $13.5 billion, which would cover liability for its responsibility originating from the Camp Fire, Tubbs Fire, Butte Fire, Ghost Ship warehouse fire, and also a series of wildfires beginning on October 8, 2017, collectively called the 2017 North Bay Fires. The offer was tendered as part of PG&E's plan to exit bankruptcy. Wildfire victims will get half of their $13.5 billion settlement as stock shares in the reorganized company, adding to the uncertainty as to when and how much they will be paid. On June 12, 2020, because of uncertainties in the value of the liquidated stock, in part because of the financial market impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, PG&E agreed to increase the amount of stock. Wildfire victims will be paid in cash, funded partly from the cash portion of the settlement, and partly from stock that will be liquidated into cash on a schedule and at a price that is not yet determined.

On December 17, 2019, regarding the Ghost Ship warehouse fire, which was not a wildfire, Judge Dennis Montali allowed the plaintiffs' case claiming that the fire was caused by an electrical malfunction to continue against PG&E. This case, if successful, would receive money from PG&E's $900 million insurance money, but would not be eligible to be part of the $13.5 billion allotted for the claims arising from the wildfires. On August 18, 2020, PG&E settled the civil lawsuit for 32 of the victims, out of the 36 who perished in the fire. The amount of the settlement was undisclosed, but it was limited to the amount available under PG&E's insurance coverage for the year 2016.

On June 16, 2020, PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for those that died in the Camp Fire, for which it will pay the maximum fine of $3.5 million and end all further criminal charges against PG&E. This action does not alleviate PG&E of any future civil claims by victims of the Camp Fire which would fall outside the bankruptcy proceedings, as well as how existing litigation against PG&E may be handled.

On Saturday, June 20, 2020, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali issued the final approval of the plan for the reorganized PG&E to exit bankruptcy, meeting the June 30, 2020 deadline for PG&E to qualify for the California state wildfire insurance fund for utilities. On July 1, PG&E funded the Fire Victim Trust (FVT) with $5.4 billion cash and 22.19% of stock in the reorganized PG&E, which covers most of the obligations of its settlement for the wildfire victims. PG&E has two more payments totaling $1.35 billion cash, scheduled to be paid in January 2021 and January 2022, to complete its obligations to the wildfire victims.

Loan from US Department of Energy

In December 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy 's Loan Programs Office announced it would extend a $15 billion (US) low-interest loan to support the modernization of PG&E's hydroelectric power structure. This investment also will enhance transmission lines critical for renewable energy integration, data center operations, and the growing fleet of electric vehicles. Initially requested as a $30 billion (US) loan, the amount was reduced due to concerns over the company's repayment capacity. As the largest loan ever sanctioned by the DOE Energy Loans Program, this represents key funding for PG&E, particularly as it navigates the aftermath of its complex bankruptcy proceedings and legal challenges related to California's wildfires.

Other information

On January 14, 2019, following the departure of CEO Geisha Williams, who had led the corporation since 2017; PG&E corporation announced that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in response to the financial challenges associated with catastrophic wildfires that had occurred in Northern California, in 2017 and 2018.

On January 15, 2019, PG&E stated it did not intend to make the semiannual interest payment of $21.6 million on its outstanding 5.40 percent Senior Notes, due January 15, 2040, which has a total capital value of $800 million. Under the indenture, the company had a 30-day grace period (expired on February 14, 2019) to make the interest payment, before triggering a default event.

PG&E Corporation filed for bankruptcy on January 29, 2019. The company's disclosure statement was approved on March 17, 2020.

According to Cbonds, the company has 32 bond issues, and their outstanding amount is approximately equal to $17.5 billion. PG&E expects procedures to take two years. In April, as the bondholders crafted a plan to bring the company out of bankruptcy, Governor Gavin Newsom expressed his concern that new board members would have little knowledge of California and lack expertise in how to run a utility safely.

In April 2019, PG&E announced a new CEO and management team, led by former head of Progress Energy Inc and the Tennessee Valley Authority Bill Johnson, that would assume charge of the company, as it went through bankruptcy.

On November 1, 2019, Governor Newsom issued a statement calling upon PG&E to reach a "consensual resolution" to the bankruptcy case, intending to convene a meeting of PG&E Corporation's executives and stockholders, as well as wildfire victims. If an agreement could not be reached, the State of California "will not hesitate to step in and restructure the utility". A week prior, Newsom had declared PG&E's "greed and mismanagement", along with the utility's lack of focus on hardening its grid and under-grounding its transmission lines in vulnerable areas, as reasons for its inability to deliver electricity and the shutdowns. "They simply did not do their job", said Newsom.

A proposal to turn PG&E into a customer owned cooperative, initiated by San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, has received backing from more than 110 elected officials that represent majority of PG&E customers and include 21 other mayors. The City of San Francisco offered to buy PG&E's electrical infrastructure within the city for $2.5 billion in September 2019 (while PG&E was in bankruptcy), but the offer was rejected by PG&E.

In March 2020, PG&E asked a federal court to approve $454 million in bonuses just days after asking another federal judge (William Alsup, who was overseeing PG&E's criminal probation related to the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion) not to force the utility to hire more tree trimmers.

As part of its emergence from bankruptcy, it will pay wildfire victims $13.5 billion; half of that amount will be paid in company stock, resulting in 70,000 fire victims owning 22% of the company.

This bankruptcy of PG&E Company was the largest utility bankruptcy in U.S. history, and was one of the most complex bankruptcies in U.S. history.

In November 2020, it was announced that Patti Poppe would be leaving CMS Energy on December 1, 2020, to become CEO of PG&E Corporation on January 4, 2021. In April 2022, it was reported that PG&E Corporation CEO Patti Poppe received over $50 million in total direct compensation for her work in 2021, with $40 million of that being in company stock.

In June 2020, PG&E announced that it planned to move its headquarters to 300 Lakeside Drive in Oakland. The move will happen in phases, starting in 2022 and completing by 2026.

In December 2024, the Department of Energy offered PG&E a $15 billion loan, to "expand hydropower generation and battery storage, upgrade transmission capacity through reconductoring and grid enhancing technologies, and enable virtual power plants throughout PG&E's service area".