PG&E profits hop higher as revenue from electricity and gas surges

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.

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%.

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.