PCG - PG&E Corporation
7.08 +0.16 (2.31%)
After hours: 7:58PM EST
| Previous close | 7.06 |
| Open | 7.30 |
| Bid | 7.07 x 900 |
| Ask | 7.08 x 1000 |
| Day's range | 6.71 - 7.57 |
| 52-week range | 3.55 - 29.20 |
| Volume | 17,994,019 |
| Avg. volume | 17,302,452 |
| Market cap | 3.662B |
| Beta (3Y monthly) | 0.33 |
| PE ratio (TTM) | N/A |
| EPS (TTM) | -20.75 |
| Earnings date | 7 Nov 2019 |
| Forward dividend & yield | N/A (N/A) |
| Ex-dividend date | 2017-09-28 |
| 1y target est | 12.67 |
- GlobeNewswire
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Reminds Investors That Class Action Lawsuits Have Been Filed Against Zynerba, iRobot, Zendesk, and PG&E Corporation and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder law firm, reminds investors that class action lawsuits have been commenced on behalf of stockholders of Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ZYNE), iRobot Corporation (IRBT), Zendesk, Inc. (ZEN), and PG&E Corporation (PCG). Stockholders have until the deadlines below to petition the court to serve as lead plaintiff.
- Bloomberg
California Governor Newsom Is Fielding More PG&E Takeover Calls
(Bloomberg) -- For California Governor Gavin Newsom, sitting back and watching PG&E Corp.’s bankruptcy run its course is no longer an option.The mayors of 22 cities are pressing him to turn the embattled power giant into a customer-owned cooperative. San Francisco, the city he once served as mayor, wants to take over the company’s local poles and wires. And on Wednesday, a board member of a statewide consumer group sent Newsom a proposal that would have the state run PG&E like a massive municipal utility.The proposals reflect a groundswell of anger against PG&E following years of deadly wildfires sparked by the company’s power lines, and most recently, deliberate mass blackouts that plunged millions of Californians into darkness four times last month. They also underscore the growing pressure that Newsom, who took office just weeks before PG&E filed for bankruptcy, is facing to step in and fix the troubled power company.“He will be judged -- and he’s already being judged -- by how he manages this transition,” said Katie Bays, co-founder of Sandhill Strategy consulting.Newsom’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.The proposal submitted Wednesday envisions turning PG&E into a public utility governed by a board that could either be elected or appointed. It doesn’t spell out exactly how the state would finance such a plan, but says PG&E’s power plants could be sold and its transmission lines spun off into a separate not-for-profit entity. The new board would “facilitate” efforts by San Francisco and other communities to buy pieces of PG&E.Read More: After Blackouts, PG&E Ranks at Bottom for Customer Satisfaction“PG&E will never again be able” to provide “safe and reliable service at just and reasonable rates,” Jeff Shields, board treasurer of consumer group The Utility Reform Network, said in his proposal to Newsom. “Their culture of criminal conduct and repeated disregard for public safety must end under your leadership.”In some ways, Newsom has already involved himself in PG&E’s reorganization. He’s called on companies and cities to make bids on PG&E’s assets, saying he was unimpressed with the restructuring plans that had been presented in its Chapter 11 case. He pulled stakeholders, including PG&E Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson, into a closed-door meeting to press for a quick exit from bankruptcy. He’s fighting PG&E’s plan to pay wildfire insurers $11 billion and has threatened a state takeover if the company fails to act soon.‘A Different Model’Should he make good on that threat, he’ll have options. Backers of both the co-op and municipal utility ideas say their proposals would establish a new PG&E capable of regaining the public’s trust. And more pitches may follow.“We all just need to work together to create a different model, because the current model of a PG&E driven by Wall Street and dividends, it just doesn’t work,” state Senator Scott Wiener said in an interview. The San Francisco Democrat is working on a bill to be introduced by February that would convert PG&E into a public utility. He said he’s still hashing out the details.Even those on Wall Street are looking to state leaders to do more about power line-sparked wildfires and mass blackouts before they wreak long-term havoc on California’s economy. Already, the combined impact of this year’s fires and power shutoffs -- estimated at as much as $11.5 billion -- could put such a large dent in California’s economic output that the state might underperform the U.S. economy for the first time since 2010, said Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West.Read More: Mayors of One-Third of PG&E Customers Back Utility Takeover “The earlier an enduring policy solution is implemented, the less risk to the state’s long-term credit,” Wells Fargo Securities senior analysts Randy Gerardes and George Huang wrote in a report.Any effort to remake PG&E would be complex. The company serves 16 million people spread across 70,000 square miles, including mountains, farmland and dense cities.The cooperative proposal would leave the company relatively intact but change its governance and business model. As a co-op, the new PG&E would have lower financing costs than the investor-owned company does, said Dan Richard, a former PG&E senior vice president of public policy who helped draft the cities’ plan. The company would issue bonds to pay off its debts, which Richard said conservatively range from $45 billion to $50 billion.Whatever Newsom does must turn PG&E into a dramatically different institution with new governance, Bays said, because Californians won’t stand for anything less. “The governor absolutely pays consequences for allowing that to happen,” she said.To contact the reporters on this story: David R. Baker in San Francisco at dbaker116@bloomberg.net;Romy Varghese in San Francisco at rvarghese8@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Joe RyanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- GlobeNewswire
Deadline Reminder: The Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Reminds Investors of Looming Deadline in the Class Action Lawsuit Against PG&E Corporation
Law Offices of Howard G. Smith reminds investors of the upcoming December 24, 2019 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the class action filed on behalf of investors who purchased PG&E Corporation (“PG&E” or the “Company”) (NYSE: PCG) securities between December 11, 2018 and October 11, 2019, inclusive (the “Class Period”). Investors suffering losses on their PG&E investments are encouraged to contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss their legal rights in this class action at 888-638-4847 or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com.
- Financial Times
BlueMountain: the hedge fund that lost its way
in January, a once-prominent Wall Street hedge fund was feeling the pain. BlueMountain Capital, founded in 2003 by two former Harvard Law School students during the halcyon days for the hedge fund industry, reckoned the market was too gloomy on the company that provided gas and electricity to 16m Californians. After first buying PG&E shares in August 2018, BlueMountain increased its bet last November even as California was again ravaged by deadly wildfires that the utility would eventually shoulder the blame for.
- Financial Times
FirstFT: Today’s top stories
of the trade war with China, saying US tariffs on Chinese goods would be “raised very substantially” if no truce was reached with officials in Beijing. The comments by the president, in a speech at the Economic Club of New York, highlight the trouble the US administration is having in its efforts to strike an interim deal with China that would bring a halt to the commercial conflict afflicting the world’s two largest economies. Mr Trump said a “significant phase one deal with China” remained “close” and “could happen soon”, as Beijing was “dying to make a deal”.
- Bloomberg
PG&E Is Offering $13.5 Billion in Compensation to Wildfire Victims
(Bloomberg) -- Bankrupt utility giant PG&E Corp. is trying to offer $13.5 billion in compensation to the victims of wildfires sparked by its power lines as part of a restructuring plan, according to people with knowledge of the situation.The company’s shares surged as much as 19%.The offer by the San Francisco-based power company would match the amount that a group of its creditors -- led by Pacific Investment Management Co. and Elliott Management Corp. -- has agreed to pay victims in a rival reorganization proposal, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. The two sides are at odds, however, over how to structure the payout and how much should come in the form of cash and stock, the peoplesaid.PG&E has spent months trying to come up with a restructuring plan that would get it out of the biggest utility bankruptcy in U.S. history by the middle of next year. The utility went bankrupt in January after its equipment was found to have started a series of catastrophic wildfires in 2017 and 2018, burying it in an estimated $30 billion worth of liabilities.California Governor Gavin Newsom has threatened a government takeover if the company can’t come up with a viable reorganization plan soon. The judge overseeing the case has ordered PG&E and victims to meet and to try to hammer out an agreement. The parties were in mediation on Monday, people familiar with the talks said.PG&E said in a statement that it “remains committed to working with the individual claimants to fairly and reasonably resolve their claims and will continue to work to do so.” The company noted that an initial restructuring plan it had filed in its bankruptcy case would have the utility “satisfying all wildfire claims in full.”A committee representing wildfire victims in PG&E’s bankruptcy case declined to comment.A group of creditors led by Elliott and Pimco have been pitching a rival restructuring plan for PG&E that would all but wipe out the shares of current stakeholders and hand them control of the company. Under that proposal, PG&E would use some cash and $12.75 billion in new stock to establish a wildfire victim trust that would administer payments.Insurers’ DealAn $11 billion deal that PG&E had already struck with wildfire insurers has come under attack as negotiations between the company and actual fire victims drag on. A group of victims has filed a lawsuit against the utility, saying they should get paid before insurers do.Read More: PG&E Insurance Deal Slammed by Governor, Wildfire Victims Over the weekend, Newsom urged the judge overseeing PG&E’s bankruptcy to delay a ruling on the insurance deal, describing it as nothing more than “legal maneuvering by parties apparently more focused on securing procedural advantages for their own pecuniary interests than on reaching a fair and expeditious resolution of this bankruptcy.”\--With assistance from Steven Church.To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Chediak in San Francisco at mchediak@bloomberg.net;Scott Deveau in New York at sdeveau2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Joe Ryan, Steven FrankFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- GlobeNewswire
SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Reminds Shareholders with Losses on their Investment in PG&E Corporation of Class Action Lawsuit and Upcoming Deadline – PCG
Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of shareholders of PG&E Corporation (“PG&E” or the “Company”) (NYSE: PCG) against certain of the Company’s officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the Northern District of California, and indexed under 19-cv-06996, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise, acquired PG&E securities between December 11, 2018, and October 11, 2019, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.
- Bloomberg
PG&E Insurance Deal Slammed by Governor, Wildfire Victims
(Bloomberg) -- PG&E Corp.’s plan to pay $11 billion to fire insurers is under attack from both California Governor Gavin Newsom and wildfire victims.Newsom said California may pursue its own proposal to reorganize the company in a court filing on Saturday, Nov. 9. Newsom threatened last week to take over PG&E’s restructuring if two warring groups can’t come to terms on how to reorganize the bankrupt utility.A group of fire victims lodged a lawsuit against the San Francisco-based company insisting they get paid before insurers, according to the filing. Under California law, wildfire victims must be “made-whole” before insurers can collect on that settlement.The filings come at a pivotal moment for PG&E. The utility is battling to keep its reorganization plan -- based in part on the insurance settlement -- alive in court while also participating in mandatory, confidential mediation with fire victims and noteholders. Since declaring bankruptcy in January, PG&E and its shareholders have battled fire victims and noteholders for control of the company.PG&E shares are down 5.25% today at $6.14 as of 12:45 p.m. in New York.In his court filing, Newsom said PG&E’s deal with insurers is nothing more than “legal maneuvering by parties apparently more focused on securing procedural advantages for their own pecuniary interests than on reaching a fair and expeditious resolution of this bankruptcy.”The lawsuit filed by fire victims may upend PG&E’s deal with a coalition of insurers that includes Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group LLC. In a filing Monday, the group said opposition to the deal “is nothing more than a ‘smoke screen’ and is not a basis to deny the motion or delay its consideration.”If U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali gives Newsom permission to propose his own plan, it would mean three different groups are pushing their own proposals to bring PG&E out from under court supervision.PG&E’s plan is backed by shareholders and built on two settlement proposals: the $11 billion deal to pay insurers and a $1 billion payment to local, California governments.That plan is opposed by wildfire victims and noteholders, including Pacific Investment Management Co. and Elliott Management Corp. Pimco and Elliott proposed a plan, backed by a committee of fire victims, that strips shareholders of almost all of their holdings and gives ownership to creditors. It is built on a proposal to pay fire victims and insurers $25.5 billion, more than PG&E has offered.Both plans assume PG&E is solvent and therefore able to pay all debts in full before shareholders get to collect anything. Should PG&E actually turn out to be insolvent, shareholders would likely get nothing and the fire insurers $11 billion payout may shrink if the fire victims win their subordination lawsuit.These disputes and other key legal fights are likely to be the focus of the court-ordered mediation process.PG&E will be in court Nov. 13 to discuss a schedule for Montali to consider approving the insurance deal and other parts of the company’s reorganization plan.The bankruptcy case is PG&E Corp. 19-bk-30088, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Northern District of California (San Francisco)(Updates with comment from insurance group in the seventh paragraph.)\--With assistance from Tina Davis, Mark Chediak, Adam Cataldo and Christopher DeReza.To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Church in Wilmington, Delaware at schurch3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Rick Green at rgreen18@bloomberg.net, Dawn McCartyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
California’s Newsom Wants to Stall $11 Billion PG&E Fire Payout
(Bloomberg) -- California Governor Gavin Newsom has asked a federal judge to delay signing off on PG&E Corp.’s $11 billion insurance claim settlement, saying the deal is premature.In a filing Saturday, the governor raised issues with a proposed settlement of so-called subrogation claims that would see PG&E pay billions to holders of insurance claims tied to wildfires.“Given the uncertainty related to the plan that will resolve these chapter 11 cases, and the possibility that the state will need to pursue its own plan, the Allowed Subrogation Claim Amount may be an impediment to confirmation of a plan of reorganization,” according to the filing. “It is simply too early to tell.”PG&E agreed in September to pay the $11 billion to settle insurers’ claims from fires blamed on its equipment. The settlement with insurance carriers and investors puts to rest a dispute with a group holding about 85% of insurance claims PG&E faces from deadly blazes in 2017 and 2018. The coalition, which includes Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group LLC, has said it is settling its claim for less than the amount the members are owed.Shares fell 1.5% to $6.38 at 9:58 a.m. in New York. The company won permission last month to extend a deadline to Nov. 20 for getting approval on the restructuring support agreement. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 13.The governor’s filing asks the court to “further adjourn” a hearing on the settlement so it can be reviewed in the context of a broader resolution of the company’s bankruptcy filing. “Adjournment will force the financial institutions holding Subrogation Claims to continue to negotiate and facilitate a global resolution of PG&E’s chapter 11 cases,” the filing states.\--With assistance from Mark Chediak.To contact the reporter on this story: Tina Davis in New York at tinadavis@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, ;Rick Green at rgreen18@bloomberg.net, Reg Gale, Jeremy HillFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Yahoo Finance
Federal Reserve officials say they 'can't afford to ignore' climate change
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco held the central bank's first ever conference focused on climate change on Friday.
- GlobeNewswire
Zhang Investor Law Announces Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against PG&E Corporation– PCG
NEW YORK, Nov. 09, 2019 -- Zhang Investor Law announces a class action lawsuit on behalf of shareholders who bought shares of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) between December.
- Bloomberg
California’s Next Electricity Headache Is a Looming Shortage
(Bloomberg) -- As if California doesn’t have enough problems with its electric service, now regulators warn the state may be short on power supplies by 2021 if utilities don’t start lining up new resources now.In the hopes of heading off a shortfall, the California Public Utilities Commission has ordered the state’s electricity providers to secure 3.3 additional gigawatts of reserve supplies. That’s enough to power roughly 2.5 million homes. Half of it must be in place by 2021 and the rest by August 2023.The move comes as California is already struggling to accommodate increasingly large amounts of solar power that regularly send electricity prices plunging below zero and force other generators offline so the region’s grid doesn’t overload. The state is also still reeling from a series of deliberate mass blackouts that utilities imposed last month to keep their power lines from sparking wildfires amid strong winds. And its largest power company, PG&E Corp., went bankrupt in January.Now as natural gas-fired power plants retire, officials are warning the state could run short on electricity on hot evenings, when solar production fades and commuters get home and crank up their air conditioners. “We have fewer resources that can be quickly turned on that can meet those peaks,” utilities commission member Liane Randolph said Thursday before the panel approved the order to beef up reserves.The 3.3 gigawatts that utilities must line up is in addition to a state rule requiring them to sign contracts for 15% more electricity than they expect to need. Some critics question the need for added supplies, particularly after the state went on a plant-building boom in the 2000s.But California’s grid managers say the risk of a shortfall is real and could be as high as 4.7 gigawatts. Mark Rothleder, with the California Independent System Operator, said the 15% cushion is a holdover from the days before big solar and wind farms made the grid more volatile. Now it may need to be increased, he said.“We’re not in that world anymore,” said Rothleder, the operator’s vice president of state regulatory affairs. “The complexity of the system and the resources we have now are much different.”The state’s three major utilities, PG&E, Edison International and Sempra Energy, will be largely responsible for securing new supplies. The commission banned fossil fuels from being used at any new power generators built to meet the requirement -- though it left the door open for expansions at existing ones.PG&E said in an emailed statement that it was pleased the commission didn’t adopt an earlier proposal to require 4 gigawatts of additional resources. Edison similarly said it was “supportive.” Sempra didn’t immediately respond with comment.Extending DeadlinesThe pending plant closures are being hastened by a 2020 deadline requiring California’s coastal generators to stop using aging seawater-cooling systems. Some gas-fired power plants have said they’ll simply close instead of installing costly new cooling systems. So the commission on Thursday also asked California water regulators to extend the deadline for five plants.The Sierra Club, meanwhile, called on regulators to turn away from fossil fuels altogether, saying their decision Thursday “sets California back on its progress toward a clean energy future.”The move to push back the deadline also faces opposition from neighboring towns. Redondo Beach Mayor Bill Brand, whose city is home to one of the plants in line for an extension, told the commission it wasn’t necessary, since California utilities already have plenty of electricity reserves.“It’s just piling on to that reserve margin,” Brand said.(Adds California grid operator’s comment beginning in the sixth paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: David R. Baker in San Francisco at dbaker116@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Joe Ryan, Reg GaleFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- GlobeNewswire
INVESTOR ALERT - PG&E Corporation (PCG) - Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC Notifies Investors of Class Action and Lead Plaintiff Deadline: December 24, 2019
Attorney Advertising -- Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against PG&E Corporation (“PG&E” or the “Company”) (NYSE: PCG) and certain of its officers, on behalf of shareholders who purchased PG&E securities between December 11, 2018 and October 11, 2019 (the “Class Period”). This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws. The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) PG&E’s purportedly enhanced wildfire prevention and safety protocols and procedures were inadequate to meet the challenges for which they were ostensibly designed; (2) as a result, PG&E was unprepared for the rolling power cuts the Company implemented to minimize wildfire risk; and (3) as a result, PG&E’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
- Bloomberg
PG&E Facing $6.3 Billion in Fire, Bankruptcy Costs This Year
(Bloomberg) -- PG&E Corp., the California utility that went bankrupt in January after its equipment sparked deadly wildfires, said it’s facing as much as $6.3 billion in after-tax costs in this year alone from the blazes, its Chapter 11 case and the recent blackouts.The troubled power giant reported a $1.6 billion loss for the third quarter. It was driven by $2.5 billion pre-tax charge for claims related to the 2017 Northern California wildfires and the 2018 Camp fire, the company said in a statement Thursday. PG&E is not providing 2019 earnings guidance.The shares were down 13% at $6.01 at 2:45 p.m. They’ve fallen 75% this year.“Obviously it’s a big write down,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kit Konolige said in an interview. “The key remains how the bankruptcy will get resolved.”The earnings are the first PG&E has reported since its mass blackouts last month intended to keep power lines from sparking wildfires during windstorms, which drew outrage from state lawmakers and raised the specter of a government takeover. Despite the shutoffs, blazes continued to erupt. PG&E’s equipment has been identified as a possible cause of at least three.The biggest of those blazes, the Kincade fire in Sonoma County, began Oct. 23 shortly after PG&E equipment malfunctioned in the area. It took two weeks to fully contain. While the cause has yet to be determined, it’s “reasonably possible” the company will incur a loss related to the blaze, PG&E said in a filing Thursday. “The utility could be subject to significant liability in excess of insurance coverage,” the PG&E said.The prospect of more wildfire liabilities is critical for PG&E. Since filing for Chapter 11 in January, the judge overseeing its case has warned another big blaze blamed on its equipment would upend the bankruptcy and potentially wipe out shareholders.During October, PG&E enacted four massive blackouts to keep power lines from toppling in high winds and igniting more fires. The after-tax costs the company is estimating this year include $65 million for customer credits related to shutoffs on Oct. 9. PG&E said it doesn’t plan to issue rebates for future blackouts.Face to FaceThe company’s earnings come days after California Governor Gavin Newsom met face to face with PG&E Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson and pressed him to quickly strike a deal with investors. Newsom has said the state won’t hesitate to take over the company if it doesn’t act soon. Meanwhile, PG&E warned in its filing Thursday that it may not meet a state-imposed deadline of June 30, 2020, to exit from bankruptcy, saying that its reorganization could instead “take a number of years to resolve.”PG&E’s reorganization has drawn some of biggest names on Wall Street, including a group of bondholders led by billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. and Pacific Investment Management Co. The bondholders have aligned themselves with wildfire victims to pitch a restructuring plan that would all but wipe out existing PG&E shareholders, including Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group LLC. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali have ordered the parties into mediation to speed along a resolution.PG&E stock has plunged 40% since the start of October, when the company lost its exclusive right to pitch a reorganization plan and became the subject of attacks over its blackouts and wildfires.(Updates with timing of costs in first paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Chediak in San Francisco at mchediak@bloomberg.net;Will Wade in New York at wwade4@bloomberg.net;Christopher Martin in New York at cmartin11@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
PG&E May Pay $1 Billion in Financing Fees to Banks, Backers
(Bloomberg) -- PG&E Corp. creditors say the utility could wind up paying bankers and certain stock owners $1 billion in fees for arranging a bankruptcy exit plan that wildfire victims say favors Wall Street over burned-out neighborhoods.The estimates came in court filings from Alan Stone, an attorney for the official committee of unsecured creditors, who said in a Nov. 4 letter that the bill could total $900 million and asked for justification. Another estimate from David Richardson, a lawyer for the official fire victims committee, said the fees could top $1 billion, with the bulk going to equity holders who help with the financing.The fees are part of the utility’s proposed financing package that seeks to raise $14 billion by selling new stock and another $34.4 billion to refinance old debt. In some scenarios, PG&E would still have to pay fees even if its plan is never implemented, court documents showed.What’s more, the refinancing proposal would use so-called bridge loans, which must be replaced in just one year, requiring yet another round of fees, according to a PG&E court filing. The fees would come on top of bills for advice from lawyers, bankers and restructuring experts working with PG&E and its creditors, which Bloomberg previously reported could surpass $400 million.None of this is illegal or underhanded; fees for raising money are customary parts of unraveling a big U.S. business failure. But the sums ultimately could leave less money available to pay fire victims and cleanup costs.“The PG&E case is uncommon though, not just for its size and the number of people affected, but because it has so many large moving parts, some of which will collide at times,” said Bruce Grohsgal, a bankruptcy professor at Widener University’s law school in Delaware. Unusual elements include the impact on millions of people, and the involvement of the state’s governor, Grohsgal said.U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali has delayed a hearing about the package, including the proposed fees, until at least Nov. 19 after the creditors complained that they need more information to prepare their opposition. The San Francisco-based utility has to get Montali’s approval to move ahead with its reorganization plan, which faces a competing proposal from bondholders.The company “must provide evidence of good and sound business reasons for the proposed transaction,” Stone wrote to Montali. The committee Stone represents has not yet taken a position on the financing plan.Fee TotalPG&E mentioned the fees in an Oct. 23 court filing laying out the financing package, without saying what the maximum would be. But if the one-year, $34.4 billion debt package was fully drawn, the banks alone would earn $210 million, plus other unnamed fees, PG&E said.The cost of all the various fees “is comparable to, or less than, those charged in other large, complex bridge financing transactions over the last five years,” the company said in court papers.The equity investors, meanwhile, would get fees in return for committing to provide the $14 billion PG&E is trying to raise through an offering of new shares.Company officials declined to elaborate. A spokesman for California Governor Gavin Newsom didn’t respond to a request for comment. Newsom has said that if PG&E and its creditors cannot come to terms on a reorganization plan, California will step in and restructure the company itself.The banks involved are units of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Representatives for JPMorgan, Citigroup, Goldman and Barclays declined to comment; Bank of America didn’t immediately respond to emails requesting comment.Under the proposal, the banks backing the financing plan can keep some of the fees, even if they never actually loan PG&E any money. Those so-called commitment fees were necessary to persuade the banks to do the work of lining up $34.4 billion in new financing, PG&E said in court papers.PG&E would likely pay some of the fees even before the utility learns whether Montali will approve its reorganization plan, or a competing proposal. Noteholders, including Pacific Investment Management Co. and Elliott Management Corp., are pushing a rival reorganization that would leave little or nothing for shareholders.The bank fees were laid out in letters filed under seal. Such letters are heavily redacted or otherwise kept out of the public view in most corporate bankruptcies. Banks consider certain of their costs proprietary and fight to keep them confidential in bankruptcy cases.In the PG&E court filing, the publicly disclosed fees are listed as percentages of the money raised in the financing package. For example, investors who have agreed to help provide the $14 billion in new equity will receive so-called commitment premiums that start at less than 1% and then rise to 2.5% over time.Ticking Fees For arranging one-year loans of $34.4 billion, the banks will collect various fees including “ticking fees” of 0.3% of any undrawn loans and “duration fees” ranging from 0.5% to 1% of the outstanding principal. Those numbers are included in PG&E’s exit financing proposal.“The fees for this unnecessary financing could exceed $1 billion, and would be paid primarily to the debtors’ equity holders,” wrote Richardson, the lawyer for the official tort claimants committee, which represents wildfire victims, in a Nov. 4 letter. He said the committee plans to oppose the financing package.The company filed bankruptcy in January, saying it needed time to restructure its finances to handle about $30 billion in wildfire claims tied to its power lines and other equipment. It must reorganize by June in order to take advantage of a state fund that helps utilities cover the cost of future wildfires.But in a regulatory filing Thursday, the company said it may not meet that deadline and that the case could “take a number of years to resolve.”The case is PG&E Corp. 19-bk-30088, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Northern District of California (San Francisco)(Updates with potential reorganization delay in the penultimate paragraph.)\--With assistance from Nic Querolo and Mark Chediak.To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Church in Wilmington, Delaware at schurch3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Rick Green at rgreen18@bloomberg.net, Nicole BullockFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- GlobeNewswire
Pawar Law Group Reminds Investors of Deadline in Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against PG&E Corporation– PCG
Pawar Law Group announces that a class action lawsuit on behalf of shareholders who purchased shares of PG&E Corporation (PCG) from December 11, 2018 through October 11, 2019, inclusive (the “Class Period”). The lawsuit seeks to recover damages for PG&E Corporation investors under the federal securities laws. A class action lawsuit has already been filed.
- Zacks
PG&E (PCG) Q3 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates
PG&E (PCG) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of 12.12% and 0.91%, respectively, for the quarter ended September 2019. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?
- Zacks
Implied Volatility Surging for PG&E (PCG) Stock Options
Investors need to pay close attention to PG&E (PCG) stock based on the movements in the options market lately.
- Market Realist
Where PG&E Stock Might Go amid Interest from Mayors
PG&E; gained for the sixth straight day amid increased uncertainty. The stock has gained more than 80% during this period and closed at $8 on Tuesday.
- Bloomberg
Mayors of One-Third of PG&E Customers Call for Utility Takeover
(Bloomberg) -- Government leaders representing nearly a third of PG&E Corp.’s customers in Northern California now support a proposal to turn the bankrupt power giant into a customer-owned cooperative.Mayors of Oakland, Sacramento and 20 other cities urged state regulators in a letter to consider the idea, first floated by San Jose last month. They say the fight over the company’s reorganization is “a pitched battle between Wall Street titans” that ignores PG&E’s customers. Supervisors of five California counties also endorsed the co-op idea.“We’ve got a substantial number of local leaders who want to see PG&E reorganized into something that will be both more responsive and more responsible,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said in an interview Tuesday.The coalition, however, has yet to unveil a detailed plan for how it would work. Transforming PG&E into a co-op would likely require incorporating a new entity that could issue debt so PG&E’s liabilities wouldn’t end up on cities’ books, Liccardo said. Forming a cooperative of this size would be unprecedented. “We’re in fairly uncharted territory,” Liccardo said. “While there’s 900 customer-owned utilities in this country, there’s never been a conversion of this size.”PG&E said changing the company’s structure wouldn’t improve safety issue that have dogged it. “We remain firmly convinced that a government or customer takeover is not the optimal solution that will address the challenges and serve the long-run interests of all customers in the communities we serve,” the utility said in a statement.The push comes as California Governor Gavin Newsom urged backers of two rival PG&E reorganization plans to reach a deal during a meeting in Sacramento Tuesday. Newsom warned the state will intervene if they don’t come to a “swift resolution,” according to a statement.The push to turn PG&E into a cooperative has one notable holdout: San Francisco. The city, PG&E’s hometown, wants to buy the company’s local electric equipment for $2.5 billion, an offer the company has rejected as too low. On Monday, San Francisco’s mayor and city attorney sent PG&E Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson a letter urging him to reconsider, warning that if necessary they may pursue “an acquisition through other means.”\--With assistance from Mark Chediak, Dave Merrill and Romy Varghese.To contact the reporter on this story: David R. Baker in San Francisco at dbaker116@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Joe Ryan, Joe RichterFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
California Governor Presses PG&E CEO to Exit Bankruptcy Quickly
(Bloomberg) -- California Governor Gavin Newsom pressed PG&E Corp. Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson to reach a swift resolution to the company’s bankruptcy or face a potential state takeover in the face of a backlash from the utility’s mass blackouts designed to prevent its power lines from sparking wildfires.Newsom met Johnson Tuesday behind closed doors and reiterated “the state’s frustration with PG&E and strongly urged the parties to get a resolution that ensures what we saw over the last month never happens again,” said a spokesman for the governor’s office, referring to the power shutoffs. Representatives of PG&E shareholders, bondholders, wildfire victims and other creditors also attended.The governor wants the utility to settle the Chapter 11 proceedings before June 30 or the state will “intervene,” the spokesman said.Frustrated with PG&E, Newsom is trying to take on a bigger role in the largest U.S. utility bankruptcy in history, which will shape how power is delivered in the world’s fifth-largest economy. Some of Wall Street’s biggest names are jostling for control of the utility, including a group of bondholders led by billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. The bondholders have aligned with wildfire victims to offer a reorganization plan that would largely wipe out existing PG&E shareholders including Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group LLC.Concerned that progress in the bankruptcy has stalled, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali recently ordered the parties into mediation. PG&E filed for bankruptcy in January amid an estimated $30 billion of liabilities from wildfires tied to its equipment.To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Chediak in San Francisco at mchediak@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Andrew Pollack, Peter BlumbergFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Yahoo Finance
Solar power interest is surging after California blackouts, CEO says
The wildfires raging in California and ensuing power outages are creating new demand for solar energy alternatives, as many residents are aiming to become less reliant on the state's power grid.
- Yahoo Finance
PG&E stock price has 75% chance of going to zero: Citi analyst
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s threat to nationalize Pacific Gas and Electric provides a lift to a restructuring plan led by its bondholders that would all but wipe out PG&E’s shareholders.
- Bloomberg
Judge Grills PG&E Over Cable That Failed Before Massive Wildfire
(Bloomberg) -- A federal judge overseeing the probation of utility giant PG&E Corp. is demanding information on a power line that failed minutes before a massive wildfire broke out last month in Northern California.U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered PG&E to respond to several questions about so-called jumper cables after the San Francisco utility giant disclosed that one had broken where the Kincade fire erupted in Sonoma County on Oct. 23. The blaze is still burning north of San Francisco and has damaged or destroyed almost 450 structures.PG&E’s equipment has already been tied to wildfires that devastated parts of Northern California in 2017 and 2018, saddling the company with an estimated $30 billion in liabilities and forcing it into bankruptcy. Last year, a loose PG&E jumper wire was found to have contributed to the Camp fire, which killed 86 people and destroyed the California town of Paradise.“What scenarios could plausibly cause a jumper cable to separate from a transmission line during a windstorm?” Alsup asked in his order to PG&E. “Should we now be worried that other jumper cables inspected in the same manner have potential failures that have gone undetected?”PG&E said it’s reviewing the judge’s order and will respond by a Nov. 29 deadline. The stock rose as much as 4.3% in pre-market trading Tuesday. Wildfires have continued to erupt despite PG&E taking extreme measures at prevention. Last month, it plunged millions of people into darkness four times so high winds wouldn’t knock down live wires. The company is under investigation for several fires that have broken out in recent weeks amid high winds, but the Kincade fire is the largest among them.Alsup has asked PG&E to report on how much damage has been done and how many lives have been lost in blazes that its equipment may have caused so far this year. Given the widespread shutoffs, Alsup said in his order that he’s inclined to think damages and deaths are lower this year, “but the court (and the public) would appreciate a more precise answer.”Mass BlackoutsAlsup said he also wants PG&E to respond to a televised report suggesting that the mass blackouts themselves have sparked wildfires.Read More: How California’s Quiet Fire Season Suddenly Turned Into ChaosThe utility has said it actually switched off lower-voltage distribution lines before the Kincade fire broke out in anticipation of high winds, but the company kept larger transmission lines energized. PG&E Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson has said the jumper cable -- along a transmission line -- had been recently inspected and was in good condition.The state of California and the U.S. government are meanwhile seeking to recover billions of dollars in firefighting costs from PG&E as part of its bankruptcy case. PG&E disclosed the claims in a filing late Friday. The three biggest claims total more than $6 billion and would compensate the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.\--With assistance from Steven Church.To contact the reporter on this story: Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco at jrosenblatt@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Lynn Doan, Steve StrothFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Investing.com
Stocks - U.S. Futures Gain as China Pushes for Tariff Roll Backs
Investing.com - Wall Street looked to open at another record on Tuesday after closing on Monday at an all-time high due to strong earnings, upbeat economic data and trade optimism.
