California utility CEO has meltdown at state over wildfire fiasco with billions of dollars on the line

California’s largest utility is putting billions of dollars in planned investments on ice as its CEO lashes out at Sacramento over the state’s wildfire liability rules — warning that the company can no longer afford to move forward at its current pace.PG&E announced Wednesday it plans to defer approximately $2 billion in planned investments for 2027, reducing the amount it expects to borrow while continuing to spend billions on its California operations.The CEO Patti Poppe said the utility is being squeezed by California’s system for assigning wildfire costs, making it increasingly difficult and expensive to raise the money needed to maintain and upgrade the state’s power grid.“We are unable to fund PG&E’s continued transformation at our current pace,” Poppe said.“Financing our work has become increasingly difficult and expensive due to the way California law assigns the cost of wildfire to utility customers and investors.”This comes as just last week lawmakers rejected a sweeping deal pushed by Gov.

Gavin Newsom to overhaul utility wildfire liability.California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.

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Never miss a story The proposal, which would have limited insurers’ ability to recover wildfire losses from utilities, faced fierce opposition before Democrats ultimately backed a narrower compromise focused on survivor payments and utility accountability.The reversal sent PG&E and Edison International shares plunging as investors braced for continued wildfire liability risks.PG&E’s board has established a four-member committee to conduct a sweeping strategic review of the company, examining potential changes to how the utility is organized and financed.The company said it is looking for a structure that would strengthen its finances, improve a...