- PG&E (PCG -7.6%) shares are suffering their worst week in nine years on speculation that downed power lines may have played a part in deadly wildfires racing across Napa Valley.
- The California Public Utilities Commission sent a letter to the utility yesterday seeking to preserve "all evidence with respect to the Northern California wildfires in Napa, Sonoma and Solano Counties."
- California’s utility regulator has a history of conducting lengthy proceedings, and investors are bailing out of the stock until more details are available, says Bloomberg's Kit Konolige.
- “It’s a case of shoot first and get answers later,” says utility analyst Paul Patterson of Glenrock Associates. “It’s fear of the unknown potential costs that the company may face."
- “The patience level of California is very short because of the issues PG&E’s had before,” says Guggenheim analyst Shahriar Pourreza,referring to the deadly 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion and a power line conductor operated by PG&E that ignited a fire in 2015 that burned 70K-plus acres, destroyed hundreds of structures and killed two people.
- Now read: Valuation Dashboard: Utilities - Update
Original article