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San Francisco Chronicle: PG&E seeks higher rates, drops board member in bid for Wall Street's favor

Posted by Melia Russel on Apr 22, 2019

This San Francisco Chronicle piece covers steps PG&E has taken amidst its bankruptcy, referencing an AEE return on equity figure. See excerpts below and the entire San Francisco Chronicle story here:

Seeking Wall Street’s favor, bankrupt PG&E asked regulators Monday for higher rates and has replaced a board member to win over a restive shareholder group.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. filed a request with regulators Monday seeking an increase in rates to help it tap the capital markets to pay for a forecasted $28 billion in infrastructure investments over the next four years. The increase would raise the average residential customer’s electric bill by $7.85 a month, or 7%, and gas by $4.25, or 7.7%, starting in January.

The request, known as a cost-of-capital proposal, would raise PG&E’s targeted return on equity — a measure of shareholder return — from 10.3% to 16%, at an additional cost of $1.2 billion.

The industry average for return on equity for regulated utilities is 10.1%, according to Advanced Energy Economy, an industry group. The sharp increase likely reflects the higher risks of PG&E as an investment, as it faces unknown future costs from wildfires and an uncertain outcome from the many reforms California legislators and regulators are seeking…

See the complete San Francisco Chronicle story here.

Topics: United In The News