PG&E gets greenlight for $7.5B wildfire securitization, but consumer advocates raise challenges

Utility securitizations generally involve costs that ratepayers would be paying for anyway, but "that is not the situation here," said April Rose Maurath Sommer, executive and legal director of the Wild Tree Foundation.   

By Kavya Balaraman • May 7, 2021

PG&E will fight criminal charges tied to 2019 Kincade Fire, CEO Patti Poppe says

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s office earlier this month filed a criminal complaint charging PG&E with five felonies and 28 misdemeanors connected to the fire. 

By Kavya Balaraman • April 30, 2021

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Reliability

Rising peak demand, extreme weather and other factors are raising power outage risks in the U.S., but FERC and other stakeholders are pursuing multiple actions to address reliability concerns.

By Utility Dive staff

California's dilemma: How to control skyrocketing electric rates while building the grid of the future

New ideas include income-based rates, publicly-funded infrastructure, utility entrepreneurship, and customer-funded wildfire insurance.

By Herman K. Trabish • April 26, 2021

PG&E gets initial approval to securitize $7.5B of wildfire costs, despite ratepayer impact concerns

"The only guarantee [here] is the ratepayers have to pay regardless. That’s the problem there in a nutshell," one ratepayer advocate said. 

By Kavya Balaraman • April 23, 2021

PG&E, other IOUs failed on 'obligation to promote safety' during 2019 power shut-offs, regulators say

The three utilities collectively shut off power to more than 2.1 million households, businesses and other customer accounts in late 2019.

By Kavya Balaraman • April 21, 2021

California puts PG&E under enhanced oversight due to wildfire prevention work lapses

The process involves additional reporting requirements and the possibility, down the line, of revoking PG&E's operational certificate.

By Kavya Balaraman • April 16, 2021

PG&E bid to securitize $7.5B in wildfire costs could hit ratepayers hard, consumer advocates warn

"If there is a shortfall, that means that PG&E’s customers will be forced to pay higher rates to fund PG&E’s wildfire liabilities. Another word for that is bailout,” said Tom Long, legal director at The Utility Reform Network.

By Kavya Balaraman • April 12, 2021

California tees up proposals to securitize $7.5B in PG&E wildfire costs

Without the securitization, "ratepayer costs will be higher as it will take PG&E longer to achieve investment grade credit ratings," according to the California Public Utilities Commission. 

By Kavya Balaraman • April 7, 2021

How Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan could boost California's energy transition

Transmission investments could help California address reliability challenges and utility wildfire risk, experts say.

By Kavya Balaraman • April 6, 2021

Record wildfires upend lockdown-driven air quality gains

The United States was home to 77 of the world's 100 most polluted cities at one point last year, even as some parts of the world reaped the benefits of lower emissions amid the pandemic.

By Maria Rachal • March 23, 2021

Bipartisan House lawmakers to reintroduce grid security bill after Texas outages, SolarWinds attack

The Grid Security Research and Development Act was passed last year by the House but was later withdrawn due to procedural issues.

By Robert Walton • March 19, 2021

Solar makes up majority of new resource additions for 2nd year in a row, reaching record 19.2 GW

With residential installations booming and expected to triple by 2030, Wood Mackenzie reported the largest year on record for utility-scale solar installations in the U.S.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • March 17, 2021

Analysts point to $500B investment gap in climate resilience for electric utilities

Investor owned utilities in the U.S. are seeing a gap in investment to adequately prepare energy systems for a changing environment, ICF said in a new report.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • March 9, 2021

California proposes enhanced oversight of PG&E as concerns rise over wildfire mitigation

The process is based on six steps triggered by certain events and could potentially lead to the commission reviewing — and possibly revoking — PG&E’s operational certification down the road.

By Kavya Balaraman • Feb. 26, 2021

Utilities need to harden the grid as they green it. Consumers aren't ready for the cost

Federal funding for grid modernization and decarbonization is the way to ensure events like the Texas blackouts don’t happen again.

By Stephanie Eyocko • Feb. 26, 2021

Possible hundreds of billions in US power sector securitizations spur ratepayer protection debate

Securitization can ease impacts of COVID-19 moratoria debt, stranded asset costs, and extreme weather losses, but bankers and regulators agree that customer costs need oversight.

By Herman K. Trabish • Feb. 22, 2021

Residents' climate anecdotes to inform San Diego resilience plan

Following hazard vulnerability assessments, the city is nearing a resilience draft plan focused on wildfires, sea level rise, extreme heat and flooding.

By Maria Rachal • Feb. 22, 2021

FERC closes resilience docket opened in response to DOE coal, nuclear bailout proposal

The decision comes amid rolling outages that have plagued Texas, and Commissioner Neil Chatterjee, in his sole dissent, said the docket was precisely the right place to examine these and other reliability issues.

By Catherine Morehouse • Feb. 19, 2021

California IOUs plan to spend $11B on wildfire prevention in 2021 and 2022 after record-breaking fire season

The utilities are also aiming to reduce the impact of wildfire-related safety shut-offs on their customers. 

By Kavya Balaraman • Feb. 9, 2021

Boston kicks off community choice electricity program, aiming to surpass state's renewables requirement

The Massachusetts capital now becomes a key East Coast adopter of a locally driven utility model championed in major California and Ohio cities — its latest effort toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

By Maria Rachal • Feb. 1, 2021

California regulators express 'deep concern' over SCE 2020 power shutoff practices

Concerns include a lack of transparency around the utility's decision-making processes and coordination with state and local government entities.

By Kavya Balaraman • Jan. 27, 2021

SCE settles 2018 wildfire insurance claims for $2.2B, faces potential fines over energy efficiency program

The utility has now resolved all subrogation claims related to the 2017 and 2018 fires and mudslides, according to Edison International's CEO.

By Kavya Balaraman • Jan. 26, 2021