Overview
- The utility formally asked regulators to recover $26,629,484 from natural‑gas customers as a shareholder performance award, a move PG&E says would add about $0.41 a month to a typical residential bill.
- PG&E reported roughly $2.09 billion in gas procurement, transportation and storage costs for Nov. 1, 2022–Oct. 31, 2023, about $196.8 million below a $2.28 billion market benchmark, which it says produced $170.2 million in customer savings and the calculated shareholder award.
- PG&E attributes the below‑benchmark result to buying from lower‑priced production basins, withdrawing stored gas during price spikes, and using financial hedges to lock in prices.
- Customer commenters and consumer advocates, including The Utility Reform Network, say it is unfair to charge ratepayers for a shareholder reward and argue savings should be returned entirely to customers.
- The California Public Utilities Commission will review the filing and the CPUC’s Public Advocates Office is expected to audit PG&E’s calculations and make a recommendation before commissioners, with a final decision likely next year; a prior multiyear CPUC probe found no wrongdoing in the 2022–23 price spike but ordered greater procurement transparency.