PG&E Financial Model
Utilities Company Financials Example (Free Excel Download)
PG&E Corporation is a holding company whose primary operating subsidiary is Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a regulated public utility serving Northern and Central California.
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About this model
This model projects PG&E Corporation’s rate base growth, capital expenditure funding requirements, and earnings trajectory to determine equity valuation and credit health, enabling an analyst to assess whether the company can sustain its targeted 9% rate base growth and increasing dividend payout without requiring new common equity.
PG&E Corporation is a holding company whose primary operating subsidiary is Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a regulated public utility serving Northern and Central California. The company generates, transmits, and distributes electricity and natural gas to millions of customers under the jurisdiction of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
- Business segments: Electric (approx. 70-75% of revenues) and Natural Gas (approx. 25-30% of revenues).
- Key geographies: 100% Northern and Central California.
- Business model type: Asset-heavy, regulated monopoly. Earnings are driven by authorized returns on capital investments (rate base), not by volumetric sales of energy, due to regulatory decoupling mechanisms.
- Competitive position: Monopoly provider in its designated service territory, though subject to intense regulatory and political scrutiny. Key peers include Edison International (EIX) and Sempra (SRE).
- Recent major events: Emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 following catastrophic wildfire liabilities; established the Wildfire Fund; recently unveiled a massive $73 billion capital plan for 2026-2030 focused on undergrounding and wildfire mitigation; reinstated and plans to grow its dividend payout ratio to 20% by 2028.
The downloadable PG&E financial model includes SEC-sourced historical financials, forecast assumptions, core operating schedules, and valuation outputs in an Excel workbook built for review and scenario analysis.
A turnkey financial model
Live formulas, no hardcoded values
Outputs are driven by live formulas, so the workbook updates from its assumptions instead of relying on hardcoded results.
All assumptions in one tab
Inputs are clearly marked in the Assumptions tab and separated from calculations, making it clear what to change and what to leave intact.
Statements always balancing
For integrated-statement models, the balance sheet, cash flow, and supporting schedules tie through properly.
Distinct schedules for clarity
Debt, working capital, taxes, and cash flow can get messy quickly. We group calculations in clear schedules, not across disconnected tabs.
No hidden macros or external links
There are no unexplained external workbook links or macros to undermine auditability or portability.
Changes flow through the model
Update a key driver and see the impact carry through the forecast, financing, and return outputs. We never use hardcoded numbers in formulas.
Historicals & AssumptionsPG&E financial modelCompany, Historicals & Assumptions used
Source: SEC EDGAR · values in USD
| Line item | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $20.64B | $21.68B | $24.43B | $24.42B | $24.93B |
| Income Before Income Taxes | $748.0M | $476.0M | $699.0M | $2.31B | $2.42B |
| Operating income | $1.88B | $1.84B | $2.67B | $4.46B | $4.75B |
| Net income | -$102 | $1.8K | $2.2K | $2.5K | $2.6K |
Forecast assumptions
Defaults used in the downloadable model. Forecast horizon: FY2026–FY2030.
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How to build a detailed financial model for PG&E
A complete walkthrough of every driver, margin, working-capital input, and capital-allocation assumption used in the downloadable model.
Revenue Deep Dive
Electric Segment
- Segment name: Electric
- Revenue driver formula: Revenue Requirement = Operating Expenses (excluding fuel) + Depreciation + Taxes + (Authorized Rate Base × Authorized Rate of Return) + Fuel Costs (pass-through).
- Historical growth rate: 4-6% CAGR, accelerating recently due to massive capital investments.
- Key growth levers and headwinds: Driven entirely by capital expenditure (capex) added to the rate base (e.g., wildfire mitigation, grid hardening, EV infrastructure). Headwinds include regulatory lag, affordability caps on customer bills, and disallowed costs.
- Pricing dynamics: Regulated. Rates are set via General Rate Cases (GRC) and Transmission Owner (TO) rate cases. Decoupling mechanisms ensure the company recovers its authorized revenue requirement regardless of actual volumetric sales.
- Revenue recognition notes: Over time as service is delivered. Unbilled revenues are accrued at month-end.
- Seasonality: Higher volumetric demand in summer (cooling) and winter (heating), but decoupling smooths the earnings impact of seasonal volume fluctuations.
Natural Gas Segment
- Segment name: Natural Gas
- Revenue driver formula: Revenue Requirement = Operating Expenses + Depreciation + Taxes + (Authorized Rate Base × Authorized Rate of Return) + Gas Procurement Costs (pass-through).
- Historical growth rate: 2-4% CAGR.
- Key growth levers and headwinds: Pipeline safety upgrades and replacement of aging infrastructure drive rate base growth. Headwinds include California's long-term political push toward electrification and away from natural gas.
- Pricing dynamics: Regulated via CPUC. Gas commodity costs are passed directly to customers with no mark-up.
- Revenue recognition notes: Over time as delivered, subject to decoupling.
- Seasonality: Stronger volumetric demand in winter for heating, though earnings are protected by decoupling.
Cost Structure
Variable Costs / COGS
- Line-by-line breakdown: Cost of Electricity, Cost of Natural Gas.
- Gross margin range: Not a relevant metric for regulated utilities. Fuel and purchased power are pass-through costs. Analysts focus on "Gross Margin" only in the sense of Revenue less Fuel/Purchased Power (effectively the Revenue Requirement).
- Key input costs and commodity exposures: Natural gas prices and wholesale electricity prices. These are passed through to customers via balancing accounts, meaning no direct commodity risk to earnings, though high prices create political and customer affordability pressure.
- How COGS scales with revenue: 1:1 with volumetric demand and commodity prices, but zero impact on net income.
Operating Expenses
- Operating and Maintenance (O&M): The primary controllable cost. PG&E targets continuous O&M reductions (e.g., 2.5% reduction in 2025) to offset customer bill impacts from high capex.
- Depreciation & Amortisation: Growing rapidly (typically 12-15% of revenues) due to the massive capital investment programme.
- Wildfire-Related Costs: Costs for vegetation management, legal claims, and Wildfire Fund amortisation. Some are recoverable, some are borne by shareholders.
- Restructuring / one-time charges: Frequent below-the-line charges related to bankruptcy exit, legacy wildfire claims, and unrecoverable interest.
Margin Profile
- EBITDA margin: Typically 25-30%, but heavily skewed by pass-through fuel costs.
- Operating margin: 12-18%.
- Margin trend: Stable to slightly expanding as O&M cost-cutting initiatives take effect and rate base grows faster than operating expenses.
Balance Sheet Structure
- Total assets: Approximately $120-$130 billion.
- Key asset categories: Property, Plant, and Equipment (PP&E) is the vast majority. Regulatory Assets (costs deferred for future recovery from customers) and the Wildfire Fund asset are also highly material.
- Goodwill & intangibles: Minimal (not a serial acquirer).
- Working capital profile:
- DSO: 35-45 days.
- DIO: Gas inventory is seasonal but generally low impact.
- DPO: 30-40 days.
- Net working capital: Often negative or neutral. Utilities do not rely on working capital to fund growth; they rely on long-term debt and equity.
- PP&E: Consists of generation facilities, transmission lines, distribution networks, and gas pipelines. Useful lives range from 5 to 60+ years.
- Right-of-use assets: Present but immaterial relative to utility plant.
Capital Expenditure & Investment
- Capex as % of revenue: Extremely high, typically 60-75% of revenues ($13.4 billion in 2025 on $18.3 billion in revenue).
- Maintenance capex vs. growth capex: In utility terms, almost all capex is "growth" because it adds to the rate base. The 2026-2030 capital plan is $73 billion.
- Major capex programmes: System undergrounding (burying power lines to prevent wildfires), grid hardening, capacity expansion for EV charging, and data centre load growth.
- Capitalised software: Material but dwarfed by physical infrastructure.
- M&A pattern: Pure organic grower. No material M&A.
Debt & Capital Structure
- Total debt: Approximately $50-$55 billion.
- Debt/EBITDA ratio: Typically 5.0x - 6.0x. Utilities focus more on FFO/Debt (Funds From Operations to Debt), which PG&E targets in the mid-teens.
- Credit rating: Non-investment grade / low investment grade (varies by agency, heavily impacted by wildfire risk).
- Key debt instruments: First mortgage bonds (utility level), senior notes (holding company level), securitisation bonds (e.g., SB 254), and revolving credit facilities.
- Maturity profile: Laddered over 10-30 years to match long-lived assets.
- Interest rate profile: Mostly fixed. Regulatory mechanisms generally allow recovery of embedded debt costs, but holding company debt interest is often unrecoverable.
- Share repurchase programme: None. The company issues equity to fund capex, though it has stated no common equity issuance is needed through 2030.
- Dividend policy: Reinstated recently. Targeting a payout ratio of 20% of core earnings by 2028 (up from 7% in 2025).
Cash Flow Characteristics
- Operating cash flow conversion: High, but heavily distorted by regulatory balancing accounts and deferred taxes.
- Free cash flow margin: Deeply negative. The company spends significantly more on capex ($13.4B in 2025) than it generates in OCF, requiring constant debt funding.
- Major non-cash items: Depreciation, deferred income taxes, amortisation of regulatory assets/liabilities, and equity allowance for funds used during construction (AFUDC).
- Working capital cash flow impact: Volatile due to under/over-collection of fuel costs in balancing accounts.
- Capex intensity: Massive. The business consumes cash to build the rate base, which generates future accounting earnings.
- Cash tax rate: Near zero or negative due to massive accelerated depreciation on capex creating deferred tax liabilities.
Sheet Structure
- Assumptions: Hardcoded drivers for rate base growth, authorised ROE, equity thickness, O&M growth, and debt costs.
- Rate Base & Revenue Requirement: Calculates the core earnings engine. Rolls forward the rate base (Beginning + Capex - D&A) and calculates the required revenue to achieve the authorised return.
- Income Statement: Consolidated view. Revenues split by Electric and Natural Gas. Expenses split by Fuel, O&M, D&A, and Wildfire costs.
- Balance Sheet: Assets dominated by PP&E and Regulatory Assets. Liabilities dominated by Long-Term Debt, Regulatory Liabilities, and Deferred Taxes.
- Cash Flow Statement: Standard indirect method. Highlights the massive capex outflow and debt issuance inflow.
- Debt & Interest Schedule: Tranches of utility-level and HoldCo-level debt. Calculates interest expense (separating recoverable vs. unrecoverable interest).
- Regulatory & Wildfire Tracking: Specific sheet to track the Wildfire Fund asset amortisation, securitisation bonds, and disallowed costs.
- Valuation (DCF & DDM): Dividend Discount Model is often preferred for utilities, alongside a standard DCF and P/E multiple valuation.
Key Financial Relationships
- `Ending Rate Base = Beginning Rate Base + Capex - Depreciation - Deferred Taxes`
- `Electric Revenue = Electric Fuel Costs + Electric O&M + Electric D&A + Taxes + (Electric Rate Base × WACC)`
- `Natural Gas Revenue = Gas Fuel Costs + Gas O&M + Gas D&A + Taxes + (Gas Rate Base × WACC)`
- `WACC (Regulatory) = (Equity Ratio × Authorised ROE) + (Debt Ratio × Cost of Debt)`
- `Net Income (Regulated) = Average Rate Base × Equity Ratio × Authorised ROE`
- `Core Earnings = Regulated Net Income + AFUDC Equity + Incentive Revenues - Unrecoverable HoldCo Interest - Below-the-line Wildfire Costs`
- `Dividends Paid = Core Earnings × Target Payout Ratio (scaling to 20% by 2028)`
- `Free Cash Flow = Cash from Operations - Capital Expenditures`
- `New Debt Required = Maximum(0, Dividends Paid + Capex - Cash from Operations - Securitisation Proceeds)`
- `FFO / Debt = (Cash from Operations - Working Capital Changes) / Total Debt`
Cross-Sheet Dependencies
- The Rate Base & Revenue Requirement sheet is the engine. It feeds top-line revenues to the Income Statement and PP&E/Accumulated Depreciation to the Balance Sheet.
- Income Statement generates Net Income, which feeds the top of the Cash Flow Statement and Retained Earnings on the Balance Sheet.
- Cash Flow Statement calculates the funding shortfall (Capex > OCF), which dictates new debt issuance on the Debt & Interest Schedule.
- Debt & Interest Schedule feeds Interest Expense back to the Income Statement. *Warning: Circularity exists here because interest expense lowers Net Income, which lowers OCF, which increases the funding shortfall, which increases Debt, which increases Interest Expense. Use a circuit breaker switch.*
Sign Convention
- Income Statement: Revenues are positive. Expenses (Fuel, O&M, D&A, Interest, Taxes) are negative.
- Balance Sheet: Assets are positive. Liabilities and Equity are positive.
- Cash Flow Statement: Net Income is positive. Non-cash add-backs (D&A) are positive. Increases in assets are negative (use of cash). Increases in liabilities are positive (source of cash). Capex is negative. Debt issuance is positive.
Things Most Likely to Go Wrong
- Misunderstanding Decoupling: Modelling revenue as "Volume × Price" will fail. Revenue must be modelled based on the authorised revenue requirement. Fuel costs must have zero impact on gross margin.
- Ignoring Unrecoverable Costs: PG&E has significant HoldCo interest and legacy wildfire costs that the CPUC does not allow in rates. These must be subtracted from regulated earnings to find actual EPS.
- Wildfire Fund Accounting: The amortisation of the Wildfire Fund asset and accretion of the liability create non-cash noise in the income statement that must be adjusted out for Core Earnings.
- AFUDC Confusion: Allowance for Funds Used During Construction (AFUDC) has an equity component (non-cash income) and a debt component (reduces interest expense). It must be modelled to bridge the gap between cash flow and reported earnings.
- Tax Distortions: Utilities rarely pay cash taxes due to massive MACRS depreciation on capex. The model must accurately project Deferred Income Tax (DIT) liabilities, which also act as a deduction to the rate base.
- HoldCo vs. OpCo Debt: Debt at the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (Utility) level is recovered in rates. Debt at the PG&E Corporation (HoldCo) level is not. They must be separated.
- Securitisation Bonds: SB 254 bonds are serviced by a dedicated charge on customer bills. They should be modelled separately from corporate debt.
- Circularity in Funding: The massive capex plan guarantees negative FCF. The model must automatically plug the funding gap with debt, creating an interest circularity.
Validation Checks
- "Rate base growth should be approximately 9% annually (growing from $69B in 2025 to $106B by 2030)."
- "Capex should total approximately $73 billion cumulatively between 2026 and 2030."
- "Core EPS should be $1.50 for 2025, growing at roughly 9-10% annually thereafter."
- "Dividend payout ratio should scale from 7% in 2025 to 20% by 2028."
- "FFO/Debt must remain in the mid-teens to maintain current credit ratings."
- "Fuel and Purchased Power costs must exactly equal Fuel Revenues (zero margin impact)."
- "Balance sheet must balance: Total Assets = Total Liabilities + Equity in every period."
- "Effective cash tax rate should be near 0% due to accelerated depreciation."
Key Assumptions (Default Values)
| Assumption | Default Value | Unit | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 Beginning Rate Base | 69.0 | $ Billions | Actual 2025 rate base per Q4 2025 presentation. |
| Annual Rate Base Growth | 9.0 | % | Management guidance for 2026-2030. |
| 2026-2030 Cumulative Capex | 73.0 | $ Billions | Unveiled in Q4 2025 earnings presentation. |
| Authorised ROE (Electric & Gas) | 10.4 | % | Approximate blended CPUC/FERC authorised return on equity. |
| Authorised Equity Structure | 52.0 | % | Standard CPUC mandated equity thickness for the utility. |
| O&M Annual Reduction | -2.5 | % | Management target for non-fuel O&M cost savings. |
| Core EPS Growth Rate | 9.0 - 10.0 | % | Management guidance for EPS growth through 2030. |
| Dividend Payout Ratio (2025) | 7.0 | % | Actual 2025 payout ratio. |
| Dividend Payout Ratio (2028+) | 20.0 | % | Management target for 2028. |
| FFO / Debt Target | 15.0 | % | Mid-teens target to maintain credit profile. |
| Unrecoverable HoldCo Interest | 350 - 400 | $ Millions | Annual after-tax drag on GAAP earnings. |
| Statutory Tax Rate | 27.98 | % | Blended federal and state statutory rate. |
Data Sources & Benchmarks
- Filings: SEC EDGAR (Form 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K) and PG&E Investor Relations website (quarterly presentations are critical for rate base roll-forwards).
- Regulatory Data: California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) docket for General Rate Cases (GRC) and Cost of Capital proceedings.
- Key Peers: Edison International (EIX), Sempra (SRE), Consolidated Edison (ED).
- Consensus Estimates: Bloomberg or FactSet for Core EPS and Capex consensus.
- Industry Data: EEI (Edison Electric Institute) for utility benchmarking and regulatory ROE trends.
Sources
- PG&E Corporation Q4 2025 Earnings Presentation and Press Release (February 12, 2026).
- PG&E Corporation 2025 Form 10-K.
- PG&E Corporation Q3 2024 Earnings Release and Capital Plan Update (November 7, 2024).
- Industrial Info Resources: PG&E Planned Capex Jumps to $62 Billion Over 2024-2028 (September 2024).
Do more with the PG&E model
Frequently asked
What is PG&E Corporation's primary business model?+
PG&E Corporation operates as a regulated public utility, primarily serving Northern and Central California. Its business model is asset-heavy, focusing on generating, transmitting, and distributing electricity and natural gas. Earnings are driven by authorized returns on capital investments (rate base) rather than volumetric sales, due to regulatory decoupling.
How does PG&E Corporation generate its revenue?+
PG&E's revenue is primarily derived from its Electric and Natural Gas business segments, serving millions of customers in Northern and Central California. As a regulated monopoly, its earnings are driven by returns on its capital investments, known as the rate base, as authorized by regulatory bodies like the CPUC and FERC.
What is PG&E's capital expenditure strategy?+
PG&E has an extremely high capital expenditure profile, with capex typically representing 60-75% of revenues. The company has a massive $73 billion capital plan for 2026-2030, primarily focused on system undergrounding, grid hardening, and capacity expansion for EV charging and data center load growth.
What are the key financial assumptions for PG&E's financial model?+
Key assumptions for PG&E's financial model include a revenue growth rate of approximately 9.3% and COGS as a percentage of revenue at 55%. Additionally, the model assumes SGA at 15% of revenue and a high Capex as a percentage of revenue at nearly 40%.
What is the purpose of the PG&E financial model?+
The PG&E financial model aims to project the company’s rate base growth, capital expenditure requirements, and earnings trajectory. This analysis helps determine equity valuation and assess credit health, specifically evaluating if PG&E can sustain its targeted 9% rate base growth and increasing dividend without needing new common equity.
Can I download an Excel financial model for PG&E Corporation?+
Yes, an Excel financial model for PG&E Corporation is available for download. This model forecasts financial performance from FY2026 to FY2030, allowing users to analyze key assumptions and projections.
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