Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) reaffirmed its 2026 earnings guidance and longer-term financial plan on its second-quarter earnings call, while executives emphasized that California wildfire liability reform remains a critical factor for the utility’s capital plans and path to investment-grade credit ratings.
Chief Executive Officer Patti Poppe said PG&E reported core earnings per share of $0.40 for the second quarter and $0.83 for the first half of 2026. She said the results reflected “consistent, disciplined execution” and supported the company’s outlook for full-year core EPS of $1.64 to $1.66.
PG&E Highlights Affordability, Safety and Reliability Metrics
Poppe said the company remains focused on what it calls its “path to flat,” targeting annual customer bill growth of 0% to 3%. She said electric load growth, including demand from data centers, is a key part of that affordability strategy.
PG&E also pointed to several operating metrics during the call. Poppe said the company has recorded zero public safety incidents from asset failures and is in its fourth year without major fires linked to PG&E equipment or structures destroyed. She said reliability performance has improved 23% year to date compared with the same period last year, driven by fewer outages and faster restoration times.
Poppe said residential bundled electric rates are down 23% since January 2024 for the company’s most vulnerable customers, and later noted that PG&E has implemented five rate reductions in the past two years.
The company also highlighted its use of continuous monitoring technology to improve wildfire safety and reliability. Poppe said that since January 2025, the company’s team has helped avoid nearly 20 million outage minutes, 28 ignitions in high fire-risk areas and more than 5,000 emergency response hours, while saving more than $11 million through lower-cost repairs.
Executives Stress Need for Wildfire Liability Reform
Wildfire liability reform was a recurring focus of the call. Poppe said California policymakers have recognized the need for a “durable solution,” and she argued that a constructive outcome would accelerate PG&E’s path to investment-grade ratings and lower financing costs for customers.
“Our five-year plan assumes that California will follow through on the commitment made in SB 254 to strengthen the wildfire liability framework,” Poppe said. She described the company’s preferred framework as “durable and financeable” and one that provides greater predictability and supports access to low-cost utility capital.
In response to a question from Wells Fargo analyst Shar Pourreza, Poppe said the company would need to take action if lawmakers do not resolve the issue or if legislation fails to address the problem adequately.
“There’s no case for no action,” Poppe said. “If the legislature does not act or if they act and don’t actually solve the problem, then we’re going to have to take action.”
Poppe declined to detail what changes to the capital plan might look like, but said PG&E would reevaluate capital allocation priorities if the framework remains unresolved or insufficient. She said the company would likely communicate with investors shortly after the legislative session if action were needed.
Data Center Pipeline Grows to More Than 12 GW
PG&E also updated investors on its data center pipeline, which Poppe said now stands at more than 12 gigawatts after incorporating new projects from the company’s 2026 cluster study. Last quarter, the company had cited more than 10 GW of additional pre-application interest.
Poppe said PG&E is focusing on the quality of projects rather than only the size of the pipeline. The company has refined its project categories, requiring a signed work performance agreement and an associated financial commitment, typically around 10% of overall project costs, before a project is included in final engineering.
Poppe said the company is focused on pricing large-load demand in a way that is attractive to data center customers but still reduces rates for existing customers. She said PG&E supports efforts at both the federal and state levels to create clear and durable frameworks for new large-load customers.
During the question-and-answer session, Poppe said PG&E expects about 1.8 GW of data center-related load to be online by 2030. She said some projects may move faster because of speed-to-power advantages or direct connection opportunities, but described 1.8 GW as the company’s current planning assumption.
CFO Reaffirms Capital and Financing Plans
Chief Financial Officer Carolyn Burke said PG&E’s first-half core EPS of $0.83 was $0.19 higher than the same point last year. She said customer capital investment contributed $0.09 year over year, while O&M savings and redeployment contributed a net $0.03.
Burke said the company’s five-year $73 billion capital plan remains unchanged, as does its financing plan. She reaffirmed that PG&E’s equity needs are fully satisfied through 2030.
“Our current dividend payout ratio enables us to grow earnings in line with rate base without the need for additional equity financing,” Burke said. She said that structure allows the company to avoid as much as $10 billion of financing over the planning period compared with a typical utility payout ratio.
Burke said PG&E completed a $2.2 billion utility bond issuance in June, bringing total utility debt financings to $4.4 billion for the year and covering the annual financing needs previously outlined to investors.
The company continues to target investment-grade credit ratings. Burke noted that S&P upgraded PG&E after the first-quarter call, putting the company one notch below investment grade. She said both S&P and Moody’s continue to point to a durable legislative solution on wildfire liability as a catalyst for additional upgrades.
Regulatory Timeline and Cost-Cutting Efforts
Burke said PG&E remains on track to deliver 2% to 4% annual reductions in non-fuel operations and maintenance expenses. She said the company has already saved more than $40 million this year through targeted sourcing and procurement initiatives.
In response to a question from Morgan Stanley analyst David Arcaro, Burke said O&M savings are an area where the company still sees “plenty of room” for improvement, including strategic sourcing and the use of artificial intelligence.
On regulatory matters, Burke said hearings and opening briefs for the 2027 general rate case are taking place this quarter. PG&E has also filed for interim rate recovery effective January 2027, which the company says would help smooth customer rates. Poppe said the request would not affect the financial plan but would affect the customer experience by reducing the risk of a rate spike.
For the Kincade and Dixie wildfire cost recovery proceedings, Burke said PG&E still expects a proposed decision in November. She said the settlement conference cited by an analyst was part of the standard schedule, and that the company remains focused on the case it has presented.
About Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG)
Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE: PCG) is an investor-owned utility holding company whose principal operating subsidiary, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, provides electricity and natural gas service in northern and central California. The company’s core activities include the generation, procurement, transmission and distribution of electric power, as well as the transmission and distribution of natural gas. PG&E serves a broad mix of residential, commercial, and industrial customers across urban and rural communities within its California service territory.
PG&E’s operations encompass utility infrastructure planning and construction, grid operations, customer service and energy procurement.
