Piper plays down significance of Tesla Autopilot case in Florida
PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) presented its second quarter 2025 earnings results on July 31, reaffirming its full-year guidance despite reporting lower earnings per share compared to the same period last year. The utility’s stock was trading slightly lower in premarket at $14.00, down 0.14% following the presentation.
Quarterly Performance Highlights
PG&E reported second quarter 2025 core earnings per share of 31 cents, contributing to first half core EPS of 64 cents. This represents a decline from the 69 cents reported in the first half of 2024. The company attributed this decrease to several factors, including equity dilution (-4 cents), timing issues, and other factors (-6 cents), partially offset by customer capital investment (+4 cents) and operating and maintenance savings (+3 cents).
As shown in the following comparison of first half earnings performance:
Despite the year-over-year decline in first half earnings, PG&E reaffirmed its 2025 core EPS guidance range of $1.48 to $1.52, representing a 10% increase at the midpoint compared to 2024. The company also maintained its longer-term guidance of at least 9% core EPS growth for 2026-2028.
The following slide highlights PG&E’s guidance reaffirmation and key targets:
Strategic Initiatives
PG&E’s presentation emphasized several strategic initiatives aimed at driving growth while maintaining affordability for customers. A key focus is the company’s expanding data center pipeline, which has grown to 10,000 MW as of June 2025, up from 8,700 MW in March 2025. The company estimates that each gigawatt of data center load could reduce electric bills by 1-2% for customers.
The data center pipeline growth is illustrated in this chart:
Cost reduction remains another strategic priority. PG&E reported operating and maintenance cost reductions of 5% in 2023 and 4% in 2024, with plans for an additional 2% reduction in 2025. These savings are part of the company’s effort to offset inflationary pressures and keep customer bills affordable.
The following slide details PG&E’s O&M cost reduction performance:
Capital Investment Plan
PG&E outlined its five-year capital plan totaling $63 billion through 2028, targeting a compound annual growth rate of approximately 10% in its weighted average rate base from 2023 to 2028. The company noted that a significant portion of this planned investment (82-93%) is already authorized by regulators.
The capital plan is illustrated in this chart:
The company also identified at least $5 billion in additional "customer beneficial investment opportunities" beyond its base plan, including transportation electrification, transmission upgrades for data centers, and incremental new business connections.
Risk Mitigation Efforts
A significant portion of the presentation focused on PG&E’s wildfire mitigation efforts and financial protections. The company highlighted its progress in physical risk reduction, including the installation of 10,000 monitoring devices in high-risk areas, deployment of four Black Hawk helicopters for rapid response, and undergrounding of power lines.
The following slide shows the company’s progress in physical risk mitigation since 2017:
On the financial protection front, PG&E noted that its 2025 Wildfire Mitigation Plan was approved with a Safety Certificate issued in December 2024. The company also detailed the AB 1054 Wildfire Fund mechanics, which provide financial protection for eligible wildfire claims.
Forward-Looking Statements
PG&E’s presentation emphasized its "differentiated performance" metrics, showing improvements across several categories from 2023 to projected future performance. The company is targeting investment grade credit ratings in 2025, up from its current BB/Ba1 ratings.
The following table illustrates PG&E’s performance metrics over time:
For 2025, the company provided detailed guidance factors, including a weighted average rate base of $69 billion ($57 billion CPUC and $12 billion FERC) and an equity ratio of 52% with a 10.28% return on equity.
As shown in this detailed guidance slide:
Market Context
PG&E’s presentation comes after a challenging first quarter, where the company reported an EPS of $0.33, missing analyst expectations of $0.34, and revenue of $5.98 billion, below the forecast of $6.02 billion. Despite these challenges, the company has maintained its full-year guidance, suggesting confidence in stronger performance in the second half of 2025.
The utility continues to position itself as a critical partner to California’s economy, highlighting that it delivered 98% greenhouse gas-free electricity to retail customers in 2024. PG&E’s strategic focus on data center growth aligns with California’s position as a technology hub and the increasing demand for power to support AI and cloud computing infrastructure.
While the presentation emphasized growth opportunities and risk mitigation, investors will likely watch closely to see if PG&E can deliver on its full-year targets despite the weaker first-half performance compared to 2024.
Full presentation:
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.