OAKLAND — PG&E’s profits hopped higher in 2023, buoyed by electricity and natural gas revenues that surged last year, in a report that also predicted the utility titan’s investors can anticipate even better earnings this year.
The power company behemoth earned $2.24 billion in 2023, an increase of 24.6% in profits compared with 2022, PG&E reported on Thursday.
Excluding an array of one-time or unusual items that aren’t related to the company’s core operations, PG&E earned $2.63 billion in 2023, an increase of 12.2% compared to the prior year.
The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, criticized the trend in rising profits that PG&E has harvested.
“TURN believes it is unacceptable for PG&E shareholders to pocket billions in profits at the expense of its customers who have seen bills skyrocket by 33% last year alone,” said Mark Toney, TURN’s executive director.
Toney called on PG&E’s primary regulatory agency to take steps to accommodate the needs of the utility’s customers who are being jolted by rapidly increasing monthly bills.
“The Public Utilities Commission needs to prioritize affordable bills for California residents and businesses, over shareholder profits, and enforce limits on rate increases,” Toney said.
Oakland-based PG&E also reported that its revenue from electricity operations totaled $17.42 billion in 2023, which was up 15.7% when compared with electricity revenue of $15.06 billion in 2022.
Natural gas revenue for PG&E totaled slightly more than $7 billion in 2023, which was up 5.8% from gas revenue of $6.62 billion in 2023.
Both electricity and gas revenue in 2023 rocketed higher at a pace that greatly exceeded the Bay Area inflation rate, as measured by the consumer price index, over the same 12 months. In 2023, Bay Area consumer prices rose 2.6%.
Sam Liccardo, San Jose’s former mayor and a candidate for a South Bay congressional seat, as well as a long-time critic of PG&E, said the utility’s rising monthly bills and profits shouldn’t come as a shock.
“Nobody should be surprised by these numbers or that rate hikes will continue,” Liccardo said. “That’s why I’ve proposed a federally backed program to liberate ratepayers from rising bills by enabling investments in electricity storage and generation within apartment buildings and houses.”
PG&E’s jump in profits is being disclosed just weeks after a big increase in monthly utility bills for residential customers went into effect on Jan. 1 — and only a few weeks or months before yet another bill increase is slated to begin.
“Our story of progress continued in 2023, including further reducing wildfire ignitions and burying more powerlines than any prior year,” PG&E Chief Executive Officer Patricia Poppe said in a prepared release.
Wall Street and PG&E investors can also anticipate a bright 2024 when it comes to the company’s profits.
PG&E suggested that its profits for 2024 could be in the range of $1.10 to $1.14 a share, which is an improvement from prior guidance that this year’s profits would range from $1.08 to $1.12 a share.
By comparison, PG&E earned $1.05 a share during 2023.
In the October-through-December fourth quarter of 2023, PG&E earned $919 million, which was a robust jump of 79.1% compared with profits of $513 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Excluding certain one-time or unusual items, PG&E earned $1.01 billion in the 2023 fourth quarter, up 79.6% from the similarly calculated profits for the final three months of 2022.