PG&E Authorized to Recover $1.2 Billion for Headquarters Relocation

Source: News Data  |  By Anne Ernst

Pacific Gas & Electric received authorization to recover more than $1.2 billion in costs associated with relocating its headquarters, a move it has contended will save ratepayers money. In its 2020 application, PG&E said that selling the San Francisco building and purchasing the Lakeside building would result in a savings of $710 million to customers—or “a net present value of $752 million,” according to the current decision.

The Utility Reform Network in a Dec. 8, 2023, filing said that PG&E’s petition for modification “arrived at a time when” TURN could only “perform a very high level review,” and that it “did not reveal any issues that seemed likely to have a material enough impact on the transactions costs, benefits, or cost-effectiveness to warrant a more in-depth inquiry.” But TURN did urge the CPUC “to make clear that any approval of the relief PG&E seeks through this petition is situation-specific, and not intended to signal that such financial restructurings will be favored in the future.