-+ 0.00%
-+ 0.00%
-+ 0.00%

PG&E Submits Testimony To California Regulators, Values Potential San Francisco Grid Takeover At $22.5B, Including $8.6B In Severance And Separation Costs

Benzinga·10/21/2026 13:07:04
Listen to the news

Filing Includes $8.6 Billion in Business Severance Damages and Physical Separation Costs that the City's Valuation Does Not Yet Address 

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) on Tuesday responded to the City and County of San Francisco's (CCSF) petition asking the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to determine the value of PG&E's electric distribution grid in San Francisco.

PG&E's filing details that the CPUC-required costs of a CCSF takeover would be $22.5 billion.

CCSF's April 2026 filing estimated only the fair-market value of the grid's assets. PG&E's filing includes both the fair-market value of the grid's assets and the costs CCSF would have to pay PG&E and its remaining customers as part of its proposed takeover:

  • Physical separation of the San Francisco grid from PG&E's larger, integrated grid
  • Lost revenue for statewide energy programs that a CCSF utility would shift to customers outside of San Francisco

"A government takeover of our grid is not the right solution for our San Francisco customers," said PG&E Corporation CEO Patti Poppe. "We have decades of specialized expertise operating San Francisco's complex electric system. And now our filing shows that a takeover doesn't make financial sense for customers."

PG&E's filing outlines a fair-market value of approximately $13.9 billion for its electric and real property assets in San Francisco, compared to the $3.4 billion that CCSF cited in April. However, PG&E's valuation also includes $7.6 billion in damages for business severance and $1 billion in damages for physical separation.

An accurate accounting of the cost of a government takeover of PG&E's San Francisco electric distribution grid is essential to understanding how it would affect San Franciscans. Dividing PG&E's total burden of a takeover across the 420,000 electric accounts in San Francisco would equal about $53,000 per account. That is not a forecast of a specific customer bill or charge. However, it's clear that a takeover would burden San Franciscans with significant debt for decades to come.