PG&E Posts Record $2.4B Profit Amid Constant Rate Hikes: Reports

OAKLAND, CA — PG&E announced Thursday that it made record-breaking profits of $2.47 billion in 2024, a year it requested six separate rate hikes. The Oakland-based utility, which has a near monopoly on electricity and natural gas throughout Northern California, announced a profit of $1.15 a share in 2024, and predicts that its profits will range from $1.30 to $1.36 a share in 2025, according to a report from the Bay Area News Group.

The utility giant is facing widespread criticism for making record-breaking profits at a time when many of its customers are struggling to keep up with rising rates. “If the [California Public Utilities Commission] doesn’t address the outrageous profits for PG&E coming from outrageously high utility bills, then the state legislature must do it,” said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Action, in a statement shared with the Bay Area News Group. “Ratepayers at California’s investor-owned utilities deserve more affordable electricity.”

The average PG&E customer receiving both electricity and natural gas paid $295 a month in December, one of the highest rates in the nation, according to the Bay Area News Group.

PG&E has defended the numerous rate hikes as necessary to offset increasing costs tied to wildfire safety and climate change. The company pointed out that it has completed 366 miles of system hardening, comprising 258 miles of underground power lines, and 108 miles of stronger poles and overhead components, and added 14,000 new customers to its system, more than expected. It also pointed out that for the second consecutive year, its equipment did not cause any major wildfires in its coverage area. It also said that the hikes are helping to fund vegetation management and extend the operation of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant.

PG&E also said that it is “working to maximize every dollar, including adopting company-wide savings initiatives to reduce our operating costs and limit unnecessary expenses."

Still, calls are growing to rein in PG&E and other private utility giants like Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, which posted comparable shareholder return rates. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced an executive order to ask the utilities commission to scrutinize wildfire mitigation costs and underperforming energy programs. State Senator Aisha Washab, who represents the district stretching from Hayward to Sunnyvale, recently proposed the Investor-Owned Utility Accountability Act, which would limit the amount of yearly rate increases to once a year, and cap increases for residential customers to no more than the Consumer Price Index, and require executive compensation be contingent on safety metrics, among other reforms.

PG&E CEO Patricia Poppe took home $17 million in 2024, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

Shareholder returns are also baked into utility bills. CalMatters found that each energy bill contains a charge called “return on equity,” which is paid directly to shareholders for the risk of doing business. Studies found these additional charges have cost customers across the country as much as $7 billion.

“This is the second year in a row of record-breaking profits for PG&E,” said Mark Toney, executive director of consumer group The Utility Reform Network, in a statement shared with The Bay Area News Group. “The shareholders are getting a lot of love. But while PG&E investors are feeling the love, the customers are only feeling the pain.”

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• Does PG&E Plan More Rate Hikes In 2025?
• CPUC Approves PG&E Request For Interim Rate Hike