Climate Changed
PG&E Bankruptcy's Ripple Effects Will be Felt Beyond California
- Investors, utilities across the U.S. could share the pain
- Settlements for wildfire victims may be later and smaller
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PG&E Corp., owner of the largest electric utility in America’s most populous state, plans to file for bankruptcy Tuesday, and the ripple effects are likely to stretch far beyond California and the company’s stakeholders.
Power-plant operators that sell electricity to its utility are already being downgraded to junk. Federal taxpayers may get stuck with the bill for government loans to renewable-power projects in California if they can’t be repaid. And the shape of the Golden State’s electricity industry could fundamentally change, with delays to a clean-energy mandate and a bigger role than ever before for public power.