PG&E Corporation reports third-quarter earnings of $749 million and reaffirms guidance

PG&E Corporation reported third-quarter 2026 GAAP earnings of $749 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, a regulatory filing showed Thursday. The results cover the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $823 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, a year earlier.

The company also said non-GAAP core earnings were $928 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, for the quarter. Management excludes what it calls non-core items, which it does not consider representative of ongoing earnings.

Here's how the company did:

• Third-quarter GAAP earnings per diluted share: $0.34, vs. $0.37 a year earlier
• Third-quarter non-GAAP core earnings per diluted share: $0.41, vs. $0.50 a year earlier
• Third-quarter income available for common shareholders: $749 million, vs. $823 million a year earlier
• Third-quarter non-GAAP core earnings: $928 million, vs. $1,142 million a year earlier
• Total operating revenues: $6,188 million, vs. $6,250 million a year earlier
• Nine-month GAAP earnings per diluted share: $1.06, vs. $0.89 a year earlier
• Nine-month non-GAAP core earnings per diluted share: $1.24, vs. $1.14 a year earlier

The decline in GAAP earnings was primarily driven by lower CPUC return on equity in effect during 2026, one-time catch-up impacts of a tax methodology change implemented in 2025, and higher Wildfire Fund expense. Higher customer capital investment, from earnings on a higher rate base, and net operating and maintenance savings partly offset those factors.

Wildfire Fund expense rose to $141 million in the quarter from $86 million a year earlier. Non-core items totaled $156 million after tax, or $0.07 per share, compared with $295 million after tax, or $0.13 per share, in the third quarter of 2025.

Total operating revenues were $6,188 million, down from $6,250 million. Electric revenue was $4,660 million, down from $4,755 million, while natural gas revenue rose to $1,528 million from $1,495 million.

For the first nine months, total operating revenues were $18,971 million, up from $18,131 million. Income available for common shareholders was $2,340 million, compared with $1,951 million.

Operating and maintenance expense was $2,543 million, down from $2,641 million. Depreciation, amortization, and decommissioning rose to $1,206 million from $1,132 million, and interest expense was $825 million, up from $770 million.

The company recorded $58 million of strategic repositioning costs in the quarter, or $42 million after tax.

Of that total, $37 million was workforce organizational design, including severance costs for simplifying the utility's employee structure. The remaining $21 million was corporate organizational design, including consulting, legal and financial advisory costs related to the strategic review.

The company reaffirmed its full-year 2026 non-GAAP core EPS guidance of $1.64 to $1.66 per share and its 2027 guidance of $1.78 to $1.82 per share. It said it is on track to meet a 2% to 4% non-fuel operating and maintenance cost reduction target.

The company said it cannot provide GAAP guidance or a quantitative reconciliation for its forward-looking core earnings measures without unreasonable effort. It said certain line items are not estimable, including amortization of the Wildfire Fund contribution asset, regulatory decisions, special tax items, and wildfire-related costs.

The company is implementing a previously announced $2 billion reduction to its 2027 capital plan. It said the strategic review is advancing with the goal of becoming a financially strong, investment-grade company.

“Our PG&E team continues to make meaningful progress delivering safe, affordable, reliable, and clean energy to our customers,” PG&E Corporation CEO Patti Poppe said.

“While we still believe California needs a durable wildfire liability framework that delivers for customers and investors, safety remains our foundation as we strengthen and build resilient energy infrastructure to support our state’s growth.”

The utility filed a 5,000-mile undergrounding plan with California regulators during the quarter. The company said the plan is designed to reduce wildfire risk by 98% and outages by 90% on lines moved underground.

The company estimates the plan would deliver $117 billion in long-term benefits. The utility also launched a virtual power plant demonstration with Google and Rewiring America.

The demonstration is targeting over 20,000 new and existing customer energy devices and 12 megawatts of distributed energy resources by 2028. The utility energized 174 megawatts of new data center projects since 2024.

The company said that with appropriate pricing, every one gigawatt of new data center load could help customers save 1% or more on their monthly electric bill. The utility also connected over 4,240 electric customers and 3,000 EV charging ports to the grid.

The utility delivered nearly $15 million in energy bill assistance to more than 46,000 low- and moderate-income customers. The company will hold an earnings webcast at 11 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Oct. 22, with a slide presentation furnished alongside the filing.