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REGULATORY ASSETS, LIABILITIES, AND BALANCING ACCOUNTS | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2022
Regulated Operations [Abstract] |
REGULATORY ASSETS, LIABILITIES, AND BALANCING ACCOUNTS | REGULATORY ASSETS, LIABILITIES, AND BALANCING ACCOUNTS Regulatory Assets Long-term regulatory assets are comprised of the following:
| Balance at
(in millions) | September 30, 2022 |  | December 31, 2021
Pension benefits (1) | $ | 519 |  |  | $ | 708 |
Environmental compliance costs | 1,190 |  |  | 1,089 |
Utility retained generation (2) | 98 |  |  | 133 |
Price risk management | 151 |  |  | 216 |
Catastrophic event memorandum account (3) | 998 |  |  | 1,119 |
Wildfire expense memorandum account (4) | 417 |  |  | 347 |
Fire hazard prevention memorandum account (5) | 77 |  |  | 75 |
Fire risk mitigation memorandum account (6) | 122 |  |  | 44 |
Wildfire mitigation plan memorandum account (7) | 623 |  |  | 424 |
Deferred income taxes (8) | 2,527 |  |  | 1,849 |
Insurance premium costs (9) | 168 |  |  | 207 |
Wildfire mitigation balancing account (10) | 301 |  |  | 273 |
Vegetation management balancing account (11) | 1,994 |  |  | 1,411 |
COVID-19 pandemic protection memorandum accounts (12) | 32 |  |  | 49 |
Microgrid memorandum account (13) | 192 |  |  | 163 |
Financing costs (14) | 207 |  |  | 175 |
SB 901 securitization (15) | 5,439 |  |  | — |
AROs in excess of recoveries (16) | 369 |  |  | — |
Other | 1,024 |  |  | 925 |
Total long-term regulatory assets | $ | 16,448 |  |  | $ | 9,207 |
(1) Payments into the pension and other benefits plans are based on annual contribution requirements. As these annual requirements continue indefinitely into the future, the Utility expects to continuously recover pension benefits. (2) In connection with the settlement agreement entered into among PG&E Corporation, the Utility, and the CPUC in 2003 to resolve the Utility’s 2001 proceeding under Chapter 11, the CPUC authorized the Utility to recover $1.2 billion of costs related to the Utility’s retained generation assets. The individual components of these regulatory assets are being amortized over the respective lives of the underlying generation facilities, consistent with the period over which the related revenues are recognized. (3) Includes costs of responding to catastrophic events that have been declared a disaster or state of emergency by competent federal or state authorities. As of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, $40 million and $49 million in COVID-19 related costs were recorded to CEMA regulatory assets, respectively. Recovery of CEMA costs is subject to CPUC review and approval. (4) Represents incremental wildfire claims and outside legal expenses related to the 2021 Dixie fire and the 2022 Mosquito fire. Recovery of WEMA costs is subject to CPUC review and approval. (5) Includes costs associated with the implementation of regulations and requirements adopted to protect the public from potential fire hazards associated with overhead power line facilities and nearby aerial communication facilities that have not been previously authorized in another proceeding. Recovery of FHPMA costs is subject to CPUC review and approval. (6) Includes costs associated with the 2019 WMP for the period from January 1, 2019 through June 4, 2019 and other incremental costs associated with fire risk mitigation. Recovery of FRMMA costs is subject to CPUC review and approval. (7) Includes costs associated with the 2019 WMP for the period from June 5, 2019 through December 31, 2019, the 2020 WMP for the period from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, the 2021 WMP for the period from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 and the 2022 WMP for the period from January 1, 2022 through September 30, 2022. Recovery of WMPMA costs is subject to CPUC review and approval. (8) Represents cumulative differences between amounts recognized for ratemaking purposes and expense recognized in accordance with GAAP. (9) Represents excess liability insurance premium costs recorded to RTBA and an adjustment mechanism for costs determined in other proceedings, as authorized in the 2020 GRC and 2019 GT&S rate cases, respectively. (10) Includes costs associated with certain wildfire mitigation activities for the period from January 1, 2020 through September 30, 2022. Noncurrent balance represents costs above 115% of adopted revenue requirements, which are subject to CPUC review and approval. (11) Represents vegetation management costs above 120% of adopted revenue requirements, which are subject to CPUC review and approval. The balance also includes a portion of vegetation management costs approved by the CPUC on August 22, 2022 for recovery over a 12-month period beginning in January 2023. (12) Includes costs associated with customer protections, including higher uncollectible costs related to the moratorium on electric and gas service disconnections program implementation costs, and higher accounts receivable financing costs for the period of March 4, 2020 to September 30, 2021. As of September 30, 2022, the Utility had recorded an under-collection of $10 million for small business customers. The remaining $22 million is associated with program costs and higher accounts receivable financing costs. As of December 31, 2021, the Utility had recorded an under-collection of $30 million for residential customers pending approval for recovery in the RUBA in addition to under-collections recorded for small business customers. The remaining $19 million is associated with program costs and higher accounts receivable financing costs. Recovery of CPPMA costs is subject to CPUC review and approval. (13) Includes costs associated with temporary generation, infrastructure upgrades, and community grid enablement programs associated with the implementation of microgrids. Amounts incurred are subject to CPUC review and approval. (14) Includes costs associated with long-term debt financing deemed recoverable under ASC 980 more than twelve months from the current date. These costs and their amortization period are reviewable and approved in the Utility’s cost of capital or other regulatory filings. (15) In connection with the SB 901 securitization, the CPUC authorized the issuance of one or more series of recovery bonds in connection with the post-emergence transaction to finance $7.5 billion of claims associated with the 2017 Northern California wildfires. The balance represents PG&E Wildfire Recovery Funding LLC’s right to recover $7.5 billion in wildfire claims costs associated with the 2017 Northern California wildfires, partially offset by the $2.0 billion in required upfront shareholder contributions to the customer credit trust, net of amortization since inception. The recovery bonds will be paid via fixed recovery charges, which is designed to recover the full principal amount of the recovery bonds along with any associated interest and financing costs. See Note 6 below. (16) Represents the cumulative differences between ARO expenses and amounts collected in rates. Decommissioning costs related to the Utility’s nuclear facilities are recovered through rates and are placed in nuclear decommissioning trusts. This regulatory asset also represents the deferral of realized and unrealized gains and losses on these nuclear decommissioning trust investments. See Note 10 below. Regulatory Liabilities Long-term regulatory liabilities are comprised of the following:
| Balance at
(in millions) | September 30, 2022 |  | December 31, 2021
Cost of removal obligations (1) | $ | 7,617 |  |  | $ | 7,306 |
Recoveries in excess of AROs (2) | — |  |  | 388 |
Public purpose programs (3) | 1,117 |  |  | 946 |
Employee benefit plans (4) | 1,239 |  |  | 1,229 |
Transmission tower wireless licenses (5) | 433 |  |  | 446 |
SFGO sale (6) | 284 |  |  | 343 |
SB 901 securitization (7) | 5,380 |  |  | — |
Other | 851 |  |  | 1,341 |
Total long-term regulatory liabilities | $ | 16,921 |  |  | $ | 11,999 |
(1) Represents the cumulative differences between the recorded costs to remove assets and amounts collected in rates for expected costs to remove assets. (2) Represents the cumulative differences between ARO expenses and amounts collected in rates. Decommissioning costs related to the Utility’s nuclear facilities are recovered through rates and are placed in nuclear decommissioning trusts. This regulatory liability also represents the deferral of realized and unrealized gains and losses on these nuclear decommissioning trust investments. See Note 10 below. (3) Represents amounts received from customers designated for public purpose program costs expected to be incurred beyond the next 12 months, primarily related to energy efficiency programs. (4) Represents cumulative differences between incurred costs and amounts collected in rates for post-retirement medical, post-retirement life and long-term disability plans. (5) Represents the portion of the net proceeds received from the sale of transmission tower wireless licenses that will be returned to customers. Of the $433 million as of September 30, 2022, $302 million and $131 million will be refunded to FERC and CPUC jurisdiction customers, respectively. For more information, see Note 3 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of the 2021 Form 10-K. (6) Represents the noncurrent portion of the net gain on the sale of the SFGO, which closed on September 17, 2021, that is being distributed to customers over a five-year period, beginning in 2022. (7) In connection with the SB 901 securitization, the Utility is required to return up to $7.59 billion of certain shareholder tax benefits to customers via periodic bill credits. The balance reflects qualifying shareholder tax benefits that PG&E Corporation has recognized to date, net of amortization since inception, and is expected to increase as additional qualifying amounts are recognized, including when the Fire Victim Trust sells additional shares, upon which time PG&E Corporation will recognize the associated tax benefits related to the sale. See Note 6 below. Regulatory Balancing Accounts Current regulatory balancing accounts receivable and payable are comprised of the following:
| Balance at
(in millions) | September 30, 2022 |  | December 31, 2021
Electric distribution | $ | 246 |  |  | — |
Gas distribution and transmission | 496 |  |  | — |
Energy procurement | 398 |  |  | 310 |
Public purpose programs | 333 |  |  | 321 |
Fire hazard prevention memorandum account (1) | — |  |  | 50 |
Fire risk mitigation memorandum account (1) | — |  |  | 14 |
Wildfire mitigation plan memorandum account (1) | — |  |  | 67 |
Wildfire mitigation balancing account | — |  |  | 91 |
General rate case memorandum accounts | 119 |  |  | 468 |
Vegetation management balancing account | 274 |  |  | 127 |
Insurance premium costs | 369 |  |  | 605 |
Wildfire expense memorandum account | — |  |  | 440 |
Residential uncollectibles balancing accounts | 109 |  |  | 127 |
Catastrophic event memorandum account | 230 |  |  | — |
Other | 463 |  |  | 379 |
Total regulatory balancing accounts receivable | $ | 3,037 |  |  | $ | 2,999 |
(1) Interim rate relief associated with the 2020 WMCE application ceased in May 2022, fully exhausting the current balance of the memorandum accounts.
| Balance at
(in millions) | September 30, 2022 |  | December 31, 2021
Electric distribution | $ | — |  |  | $ | 121 |
Electric transmission | 493 |  |  | 24 |
Gas distribution and transmission | 48 |  |  | 83 |
Energy procurement | 202 |  |  | 211 |
Public purpose programs | 298 |  |  | 259 |
Nuclear decommissioning adjustment mechanism | 40 |  |  | 137 |
SFGO sale | 114 |  |  | 21 |
Other | 523 |  |  | 265 |
Total regulatory balancing accounts payable | $ | 1,718 |  |  | $ | 1,121 |
For more information, see Note 4 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of the 2021 Form 10-K.

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