{"id":6985,"date":"2019-01-16T16:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=6985"},"modified":"2026-05-13T18:30:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:30:04","slug":"pge-crisis-over-possible-bankruptcy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/pge-crisis-over-possible-bankruptcy\/","title":{"rendered":"PG&E crisis over possible bankruptcy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If there\u2019s one classic line in the controversial movie \u201cVice,\u201d it probably comes early in the film, when then-Vice President Richard Cheney is portrayed thinking about the World Trade Center attacks of 9-11 as \u201can opportunity,\u201d rather than a tragedy.<\/p>

So it might be today in California, where tragedies partly of its own making afflict the state\u2019s largest utility, whose chief executive has left the firm just when it says it will declare bankruptcy.<\/p>

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. faces as much as $29 billion in uninsured lawsuit liabilities from homeowners and others harmed by the massive fires of the last two years, at least some of them started by sparks from PG&E electric transmission lines. Previously, the company suffered a criminal conviction and billions of dollars worth of fines and negative publicity over the 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion that killed eight persons in San Bruno.<\/p>

But just as the filmic Cheney is shown realizing that in other people\u2019s misery lies potential opportunity for him, so it can also be in real life. That\u2019s the case right now with PG&E\u2019s predicament. As the potential extent of the company\u2019s responsibility emerged in recent weeks, its stock price dropped precipitately, losing more than two-thirds of its previous value.<\/p>

Opportunity for others has been expanded both by statements from the state Public Utilities Commission about possibly breaking up PG&E because of both proven and possible misdeeds and by the company\u2019s own public comments. PG&E openly contemplates both bankruptcy and selling off its natural gas operations. Bankruptcy probably would help no one, as fire victims likely would not be paid fully.<\/p>

But two major players on the California utility scene could benefit from a PG&E breakup or selloff while keeping customers supplied with the energy they need.<\/p>

Those are investor Warren Buffett\u2019s Oregon-based PacifiCorp, owned by Buffett\u2019s Berkshire Hathaway investment firm, and San Diego-based Sempra Energy, parent of both the Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric Co.<\/p>

PG&E\u2019s natural gas assets could make excellent synergy for both Buffett and Sempra, bidding rivals last year when Sempra paid more than $9 billion for 80 percent ownership of Oncor Electric Delivery Corp., the largest electric utility in Texas, serving Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco and other large cities.<\/p>

Though in expansion mode, Sempra last fall sold off 42 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage in the Deep South for $332 million, demonstrating both the company\u2019s readiness to wheel and deal and the fact it has cash on hand.<\/p>

Buffett, meanwhile, has bought up electric and gas utilities in 10 Western states. His PacifiCorp already serves 45,000 customers in several Northern California counties. Berkshire Hathaway also owns the Kern River gas pipeline, a major transporter of Colorado natural gas to California utilities.<\/p>

Berkshire Hathaway had no comment on reports it might be a bidder if PG&E\u2019s gas operations, which serve 4.5 million metered customers in a large swath of California including cities like San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose and Bakersfield, come up for auction.<\/p>

Sempra also refused comment. Its SoCalGas and SDG&E units serve 6.5 million metered gas customers across Southern California. Each meter generally serves multiple persons.<\/p>

For both Buffett and Sempra, then, the synergies are obvious. Sempra, for one, could gain access to vast new supplies from the natural gas fields of western Canada, from which PG&E imports much of its supply.<\/p>

PG&E has said its gas operations might sell for more than $9 billion, but that could prove low if there is active bidding between Sempra and Buffett and especially if a surprise third party should enter the auction.<\/p>

A complete natural gas selloff to either large company might be more efficient and cost effective for consumers than selling off PG&E\u2019s gas operation piecemeal, as the state PUC has discussed.<\/p>

However this plays out, it\u2019s clear PG&E\u2019s self-inflicted wounds present a major opportunity for others who could make hay with almost half that company. Which might also bring some satisfaction to disgruntled PG&E customers and homeowners harmed by the huge utility\u2019s safety problems.<\/p>

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>

Email Thomas Elias attdelias@aol.com. His book, \u201cThe Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government\u2019s Campaign to Squelch It,\u201d is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If there\u2019s one classic line in the controversial movie \u201cVice,\u201d it probably comes early in the film, when then-Vice President Richard Cheney is portrayed thinking about the World Trade Center attacks of 9-11 as \u201can opportunity,\u201d rather than a tragedy. So it might be today in California, where tragedies partly of its own making afflict […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-6985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-business"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6985\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}