Politics
PG&E estimates San Francisco grid acquisition would cost $22.5 billion
PG&E told California regulators that transferring its San Francisco electric grid to the city would cost $22.5 billion, including lost revenue and expenses tied to separating the system. City officials have previously challenged the utility’s lower, $20 billion estimate as excessive.
PG&E is putting a $22.5 billion price on San Francisco’s effort to take public control of the city’s electric grid, according to a filing the utility submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026.
The 1,164-page filing appraises the cost of acquiring PG&E’s San Francisco grid. The company says its estimate includes revenue it would lose by ending its business in the city, as well as potential damage and costs from physically separating San Francisco’s system from the interconnected grid serving the rest of California.
PG&E CEO Patti Poppe argued that a public takeover would not benefit customers. The company has decades of experience operating San Francisco’s complex electric system, she said in a statement, adding that the filing shows a takeover would not make financial sense.
San Francisco officials have previously called PG&E’s $20 billion estimate “absurd,” saying it exceeds the city’s entire budget. The newly stated $22.5 billion figure raises the stakes in a debate over whether the city should acquire the privately owned utility’s local infrastructure and operate it as a public system.
The filing presents PG&E’s appraisal; the available details do not include an independent valuation or a response from city officials to the new figure.