Climate Politics

PG&E’s Plan to Counter Break-Up Push Includes Lower Power Bills

The utility’s CEO says rising electricity demand from AI could help cut costs for everyone

PG&E Corp. head Patti Poppe on Jan. 29.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

PG&E Corp. head Patti Poppe says her company’s best defense against politicians vowing to break it up is to lower her customers’ bills.

California’s largest utility finds itself under attack, five years after it emerged from bankruptcy. Billionaire investor Tom Steyer, now running for governor, airs TV ads pledging to end the company’s monopoly and make electricity more affordable. Officials in PG&E’s former hometown of San Francisco, angered by a recent blackout that darkened a third of the city, want to seize its equipment.