PG&E Corp. rallied as much as 49 percent in extended trading yesterday after the head of the California Public Utilities Commission said he can’t imagine allowing the state’s largest utility to go into bankruptcy as it faces billions of dollars in potential liability from deadly wildfires, Bloomberg News reported. “It’s not good policy to have utilities unable to finance the services and infrastructure the state of California needs,” PUC President Michael Picker said. “They have to have stability and economic support to get the dollars they need right now.” The end-of-day rally reversed hours of frantic selling, in which the utility fell the most since 2001, during the depths of the California power crisis. PG&E shares had plummeted 64 percent since Nov. 7 amid fears that it would be held liable for a catastrophic wildfire that has killed more than 50 people, destroyed thousands of homes and scorched over 140,000 acres.
