PG&E Corp., the California utility that went bankrupt in January after its equipment sparked deadly wildfires, said it’s facing as much as $6.3 billion in after-tax costs in this year alone from the blazes, its chapter 11 case and the recent blackouts, Bloomberg News reported. The troubled power giant reported a $1.6 billion loss for the third quarter. It was driven by $2.5 billion pre-tax charge for claims related to the 2017 Northern California wildfires and the 2018 Camp fire, the company said yesterday. PG&E is not providing 2019 earnings guidance. The earnings are the first PG&E has reported since its mass blackouts last month intended to keep power lines from sparking wildfires during windstorms, which drew outrage from state lawmakers and raised the specter of a government takeover. Despite the shutoffs, blazes continued to erupt. PG&E’s equipment has been identified as a possible cause of at least three. During October, PG&E enacted four massive blackouts to keep power lines from toppling in high winds and igniting more fires. The after-tax costs the company is estimating this year include $65 million for customer credits related to shutoffs on Oct. 9. PG&E said it doesn’t plan to issue rebates for future blackouts.
