SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Latest on Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s quarterly earnings (all times local):
11 a.m.
Pacific Gas & Electric is estimating it will cost the bankrupt utility $65 million to credit the 738,000 customers whose power was shut off last month to minimize the chances its outdated electricity lines would ignite a fire.
The San Francisco company disclosed the figure as part of a quarterly earnings report announcing it lost $1.6 billion from July through September.
Under pressure from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, PG&E agreed last week to give a $100 credit to each household and a $250 credit to each business affected by Oct. 9 blackouts.
The $65 million cost to PG&E is lower than the total amount of billing credits that will be doled out because of tax benefits that the company can take.
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6:40 a.m.
Pacific Gas & Electric is reporting substantial losses for the third quarter driven by catastrophic wildfires. The company anticipates those costs could escalate to as much as $6.3 billion.
The state’s largest utility on Thursday swung to a loss of $1.62 billion, after a profit of $564 million in the same period last year.
That’s a per-share loss of $3.06, or $1.11 when one-time costs are removed. Revenue was $4.43 billion.
The bankrupt company is facing criticism for blackouts intended to limit wildfires, but that have left millions without power.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called PG&E CEO Bill Johnson into a closed-door meeting Tuesday.
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This story has been updated to correct the headline to read $65 million, not $65 billion.
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