PG&E Another train wreck stock

I have played the PCG preferreds for quick flip profits. Fortunately was out when the Camp Fire was pointed their way. Did get the nerve to dive into the preferreds of public enemy 2 , EIX...Bought a modest 400 shares at market open today at 18.45 and so far its going good up a buck...Wont stay at this party too long though.
 
Another reason why I'm no longer a stock picker and simply an indexing sheep.
 
I sold all my PGE stock this morning, because the company no longer pays dividends and will be spending billions in upcoming court costs. I can't see them making a profit for a long time.
 
meekie said:
The net metering laws in CA are very strange, and try to protect the utilities. If you were in the first 5% of people under your utility, you got much better rates, and could get cash back from the utility.
Now it's limited to credit only, but they do give you full retail credit, depending on the time of use, if it's a peak time I give energy to the utility, they give me credit for peak use. Of course, now the utilities are trying to claim there's so much solar, that most of the time that you're generating energy is non-peak, so you're seeing a lot of batteries going in too...
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They did have to pay Arizona to use some of the excess power, when they had extra and did not know where to put it. Thank you, California.
 
Instead of going BK, maybe they will just pass the cost of the fire liabilities and lawsuits on to their customers in the form of increased rates?
 
aja8888 said:
Instead of going BK, maybe they will just pass the cost of the fire liabilities and lawsuits on to their customers in the form of increased rates?
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It seems this will happen no matter what.

It's not like, say, GM going out of business. People will buy from Ford, Honda, Toyota, etc. But PG&E is a utility - customers need that power from that utility - somebody needs to take it over. And how can they take it over w/o accepting the liabilities? Somebody, somewhere, needs to pay for that.

Don't look at me!

-ERD50
 
Californians will just have to be self-sufficient by putting up a lot of solar panels and home energy storage. :)

Tesla has what you need. A solar roof for $100K (I saw that on the Web), and a bank of Powerwalls for perhaps another $50K? Throw in a gas or diesel generator, as you will need it when the sun does not shine, and you are set.
 
The state public utilities commission has been hinting of a bailout. The PUC has no mechanism to do so and it would create a dangerous precedent IMO.

The company is exploring splitting the gas utility off as a separate corporation.

This would be the second BK for the utility if it happens. My opinion is on the second BK of any company , no reorg. conclusive proof of bad management. The assets should be sold. There would be no shortage of buyers if the liabilities and shareholder equity was tossed in the BK trash can.
 
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Lakewood90712 said:
The state public utilities commission has been hinting of a bailout. The PUC has no mechanism to do so and it would create a dangerous precedent IMO.

The company is exploring splitting the gas utility off as a separate corporation.

This would be the second BK for the utility if it happens. My opinion is on the second BK of any company , no reorg. conclusive proof of bad management. The assets should be sold. There would be no shortage of buyers if the liabilities and shareholder equity was tossed in the BK trash can.
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Do they have a lot of pension liability? That would be harder to get rid of.
 
I don't see why there hasn't been any talk of breaking up PGE into municipalities. I worked for SMUD for over 30 years. Rates WELL below PGE's and SMUD was an island in a sea of PGE territory. SMUD is the only government entity I've ever been aware of that actually cost less and was more efficient than a private operation of the same product. And maybe that's it; government usually doesn't produce ANYTHING. Well, a municipality does.

Some time back California tried to deregulate the electric utility industry in the state. It didn't go well. The thought was that open competition for customers would drive down prices. Instead, it broke out the generation from distribution from transmission. The generation side manipulated the market prices with shutdowns of power sources. Either scheduled maint. or break downs. In either case, much like OPEC, they controlled the rate cost on the market. Electric power is bought and sold as a commodity; futures valued based on how far out in the future and what time of year.

SMUD opted out of the whole thing by declaring itself to be self regulated to the new open market in California. This was because PGE was playing the generation shell game by refusing to buy power that was so expensive shareholder profits were affected. Instead, they opted for rolling blackouts rather than pay spot prices on the market for short term energy. With SMUD falling under the new regulation, all utilities had to roll black outs even if they had enough power for their rate payers. It's easy to see why SMUD opted out and went on it's own. Soon after they did, it was readily apparent that there was plenty of electricity if the utilities were willing to either pay the price or, in SMUD's case, plan their future needs well enough to purchase futures on electricity far enough in advance to plan for the cost.

Anyways, municipal utilities work in California. There are several. They all cost less than privately owned ones such as PGE. Any community would have to assume the costs associated with the liability of PGE; it's debts, assests, etc and work out a pay schedule, but that's much more likely than allowing PGE to manipulate it's rate payers and keep funding it's stock holders.
 
Just for some background, while I worked for SMUD, I lived and still live in PGE territory. I installed solar under the original Net Metering rules. So far, almost 5 years into it, I've paid to PGE only a few dollars above their flat rate smart meter charge.

If PGE rates increase, my investment in my solar will be paid off sooner. I guess you could say I'm rooting for a rate increase instead of a buyout or other liquidation of the company as I'm pretty sure what ever agreement I may have with PGE would evaporate.
 
Does SMUD have any equity or bond securities worth checking out? It’s probably too late to invest now.
 
skipro33 said:
...
If PGE rates increase, my investment in my solar will be paid off sooner. I guess you could say I'm rooting for a rate increase instead of a buyout or other liquidation of the company as I'm pretty sure what ever agreement I may have with PGE would evaporate.
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Utilities have figured that out. They now go for increases in the base customer/meter charge vs. rate hikes on what those meters consume because of residential solar knocking down whats pulled through the meter.
 
skipro33 said:
I don't see why there hasn't been any talk of breaking up PGE into municipalities. I worked for SMUD for over 30 years. Rates WELL below PGE's and SMUD was an island in a sea of PGE territory. SMUD is the only government entity I've ever been aware of that actually cost less and was more efficient than a private operation of the same product.
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Same thing here in Arizona. SRP (Salt River Project) is a government utility and has lower rates, better service, and faster restoration times after storms than APS (Arizona Public Service), which is a private company.


Having lived in the SF Bay area for 15 years, I recall keeping candles around as a 10mph wind would cause the power to go out. PG&E got in trouble in 1995 when a storm had the power out for over a week in parts of San Francisco and the surrounding counties. Seems they took all the tree trimming money and never used it for tree trimming.


PG&E has always been a train wreck.
 
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Turbo29 said:
Same thing here in Arizona. SRP (Salt River Project) is a government utility and has lower rates, better service, and faster restoration times after storms than APS (Arizona Public Service), which is a private company..

PG&E has always been a train wreck.
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SMUD models (or at least did when I worked there) it's operations partly on SRP. I know when I was on contract negotiations teams, SRP was used as a basis for negotiations.
 
skipro33 said:
Just for some background, while I worked for SMUD, I lived and still live in PGE territory. I installed solar under the original Net Metering rules. So far, almost 5 years into it, I've paid to PGE only a few dollars above their flat rate smart meter charge.

If PGE rates increase, my investment in my solar will be paid off sooner. I guess you could say I'm rooting for a rate increase instead of a buyout or other liquidation of the company as I'm pretty sure what ever agreement I may have with PGE would evaporate.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that thought has reduced my interest in installing solar panels significantly right now.

The City of San Jose is converting all PG&E customers to the City's "Green Energy" program on February 1st. Initial cost will be 1 percent below PG&E, but that won't last, especially if PG&E goes under. Residents can opt out now or for a period after the program starts. Somehow, I don't think this has anything to do with going green. I'm sure there is a scheme to profit somewhere, just as they have with the water supply system.

I wonder if the state regulators and legislators that have given PG&E immunity in past disasters aren't eyeing the company for a takeover by the state after a bankruptcy filing. Gavin Newsom is that kind of guy. Should be interesting times in the electric power market in California.
 
P G & E may issue 15 day notice this week

Story in today's LA Times https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pge-bankruptcy-20190113-story.html

15 day notice is required prior to a change in ownership or operator.
Not necessarily for BK , could be on sale of gas portion of the company.

Company is also exploring sale of the HQ building in San Francisco, rumored to be worth nearly 1 billion.
 
Shares crashing pre market

Extended hours trading down 50 % at 9 am EST :(
 
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