U.S. Offers Record Loan to PG&E

(Reuters) – The United States will provide a record $15 billion low-interest loan to California-based utility PG&E (NYSE:PCG) to support climate resilience projects and upgrade the electrical grid, as reported by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, citing informed sources.

PG&E Corp is the parent company of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, one of the largest U.S. utility providers serving approximately 16 million customers across northern and central California.

The loan from the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office will fund projects aimed at refurbishing PG&E's hydroelectric infrastructure and power lines, with cash installments to be provided over several years, according to the report.

Earlier this month, PG&E announced plans to raise $2.4 billion from investors through a stock offering.

U.S. utilities have been actively making stock offerings and filing rate case requests to finance their infrastructure upgrades as the nation's power grids confront extreme weather events like hurricanes and wildfires, along with growing demand from industrial sectors such as data centers.

Neither the Department of Energy nor PG&E responded immediately to Reuters' requests for comment.