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REGULATORY ASSETS, LIABILITIES, AND BALANCING ACCOUNTS (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2023
Regulated Operations [Abstract] |
Long-Term Regulatory Assets | Noncurrent regulatory assets are comprised of the following:
| Balance at December 31, |  | Recovery Period
(in millions) | 2023 |  | 2022 |
Pension benefits (1) | $ | 348 |  |  | $ | 120 |  |  | Indefinitely
Environmental compliance costs | 1,218 |  |  | 1,193 |  |  | 32 years
Utility retained generation (2) | 39 |  |  | 86 |  |  | 4 years
Price risk management | 160 |  |  | 177 |  |  | 16.5 years
Catastrophic event memorandum account (3) | 1,074 |  |  | 1,085 |  |  | 1 - 3 years
Wildfire expense memorandum account (4) | 540 |  |  | 439 |  |  | TBD years
Fire hazard prevention memorandum account (5) | 7 |  |  | 79 |  |  | 1 - 2 years
Fire risk mitigation memorandum account (6) | 110 |  |  | 65 |  |  | 1 - 3 years
Wildfire mitigation plan memorandum account (7) | 541 |  |  | 756 |  |  | 1 - 3 years
Deferred income taxes (8) | 3,543 |  |  | 2,730 |  |  | 51 years
Insurance premium costs (9) | 1 |  |  | 99 |  |  | 2 - 4 years
Wildfire mitigation balancing account (10) | 120 |  |  | 327 |  |  | 1 - 4 years
Vegetation management balancing account (11) | 1,538 |  |  | 2,276 |  |  | 1 - 3 years
COVID-19 pandemic protection memorandum accounts (12) | 17 |  |  | 26 |  |  | 1 - 3 years
Microgrid memorandum account (13) | 59 |  |  | 213 |  |  | 1 - 3 years
Financing costs (14) | 196 |  |  | 211 |  |  | Various
SB 901 securitization (15) | 5,249 |  |  | 5,378 |  |  | 30 years
AROs in excess of recoveries (16) | 73 |  |  | 120 |  |  | Various
General rate case memorandum accounts (17) | 1,291 |  |  | — |  |  | 1 - 2 years
Other | 1,065 |  |  | 1,063 |  |  | Various
Total noncurrent regulatory assets | $ | 17,189 |  |  | $ | 16,443 |  |  |
(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 December 31, 2023 and 2022, $43 million and $44 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 were approved for recovery in the 2020 WMCE final decision. (6) Includes incremental costs associated with fire risk mitigation not included in the WMP’s. Recovery of costs incurred during the period from 2020 through 2022 was requested in the 2023 WGSC application, and costs incurred in 2023 will be requested in a future application. Recovery of FRMMA costs is subject to CPUC review and approval. (7) Includes costs incurred in 2020 through 2023 and associated with each year’s respective approved WMP. Recovery of costs incurred during the period from 2020 through 2022 was requested in the 2023 WGSC application, and costs incurred in 2023 will be requested in a future application. Also includes the noncurrent portion of costs associated with the 2019 WMP that were approved for recovery in the 2020 WMCE final decision. 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 adjustment mechanism for costs determined in other proceedings, as authorized in the 2020 GRC and 2019 GT&S, respectively. (10) Represents costs associated with certain wildfire mitigation activities for the period of January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2022. The noncurrent balance includes costs incurred during the 12-month period ending December 31, 2020 that were approved for recovery in the 2021 WMCE final decision. The remaining balance includes costs above 115% of adopted revenue requirements, as authorized in the 2020 GRC rate case, which are subject to CPUC review and approval. (11) Includes costs associated with certain vegetation management activities for the period of January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2022. The noncurrent balance represents costs above 120% of adopted revenue requirements, as authorized in the 2020 GRC rate case, which are subject to CPUC review and approval. (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 December 31, 2023, the Utility had recorded uncollectibles in the amount of $5 million for small business customers. The remaining $12 million is associated with program costs and higher accounts receivable financing costs. As of December 31, 2022, the Utility had recorded uncollectibles in the amount of $4 million for residential customers pending approval for recovery in the RUBA in addition to uncollectibles recorded for small business customers. The remaining $22 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, Regulated Operations more than twelve months from the current date. These costs and their amortization periods 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 through fixed recovery charges, which are designed to recover the full scheduled principal amount of the recovery bonds along with any associated interest and financing costs. See Note 5 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 11 below. Recovery periods for this balance vary because the different sites and assets to which the ARO expenses are attributable have different recovery periods. (17) The GRC memorandum accounts record the difference between the gas and electric revenue requirements in effect on January 1, 2023 and through the date of the final 2023 GRC decision as authorized by the CPUC in December 2023. These amounts will be recovered in rates over 24 months, beginning January 1, 2024.
Long-Term Regulatory Liabilities | Noncurrent regulatory liabilities are comprised of the following:
| Balance at December 31,
(in millions) | 2023 |  | 2022
Cost of removal obligations (1) | $ | 8,191 |  |  | $ | 7,773 |
Public purpose programs (2) | 1,238 |  |  | 1,062 |
Employee benefit plans (3) | 1,032 |  |  | 904 |
Transmission tower wireless licenses (4) | 384 |  |  | 430 |
SFGO sale (5) | 185 |  |  | 264 |
SB 901 securitization (6) | 6,628 |  |  | 5,800 |
Wildfire self-insurance (7) | 407 |  |  | — |
Other | 1,379 |  |  | 1,397 |
Total noncurrent regulatory liabilities | $ | 19,444 |  |  | $ | 17,630 |
(1) Represents the cumulative differences between the recorded costs to remove assets and amounts collected through rates for expected costs to remove assets. (2) 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. (3) Represents cumulative differences between incurred costs and amounts collected through rates for post-retirement medical, post-retirement life and long-term disability plans. (4) Represents the portion of the net proceeds received from the sale of transmission tower wireless licenses that will be returned to customers. Of the $384 million, $288 million will be refunded to FERC-jurisdictional customers through 2042, and $96 million will be refunded to CPUC-jurisdictional customers through 2026. (5) Represents the noncurrent portion of the net gain on the sale of the SFGO, which is being distributed to customers over a five-year period that began in 2022. (6) 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 over the life of the recovery bonds. The balance reflects qualifying shareholder tax benefits that PG&E Corporation is obligated to contribute to the customer credit trust, net of amortization since inception. See Note 5 below. (7) Represents amounts collected through rates designated for wildfire self-insurance. See Note 14 below.
Current Regulatory Balancing Accounts Receivable | Current regulatory balancing accounts receivable and payable are comprised of the following:
| Receivable Balance at December 31,
(in millions) | 2023 |  | 2022
Electric distribution (1) | $ | 1,092 |  |  | $ | 448 |
Electric transmission (2) | 99 |  |  | 96 |
Gas distribution and transmission (3) | 144 |  |  | 72 |
Energy procurement (4) | 1,002 |  |  | 684 |
Public purpose programs (5) | 137 |  |  | 358 |
Fire hazard prevention memorandum account (6) | 40 |  |  | — |
Wildfire mitigation plan memorandum account (7) | 161 |  |  | — |
Wildfire mitigation balancing account (8) | 12 |  |  | 2 |
Vegetation management balancing account (9) | 340 |  |  | 137 |
Insurance premium costs (10) | 227 |  |  | 602 |
Residential uncollectibles balancing accounts (11) | 507 |  |  | 126 |
Catastrophic event memorandum account (12) | 413 |  |  | 144 |
General rate case memorandum accounts (13) | 1,097 |  |  | — |
Other | 389 |  |  | 595 |
Total regulatory balancing accounts receivable | $ | 5,660 |  |  | $ | 3,264 |
Current Regulatory Balancing Accounts Payable |
| Payable Balance at December 31,
(in millions) | 2023 |  | 2022
Electric transmission (2) | $ | 200 |  |  | $ | 228 |
Gas distribution and transmission (3) | 224 |  |  | 66 |
Energy procurement (4) | 77 |  |  | 428 |
Public purpose programs (5) | 299 |  |  | 272 |
SFGO sale | 79 |  |  | 152 |
Wildfire mitigation balancing account (8) | 125 |  |  | — |
Nuclear decommissioning adjustment mechanism (14) | 216 |  |  | 8 |
Other | 449 |  |  | 504 |
Total regulatory balancing accounts payable | $ | 1,669 |  |  | $ | 1,658 |
(1) The electric distribution accounts track the collection of revenue requirements approved in the GRC and other proceedings. (2) The electric transmission accounts track recovery of costs related to the transmission of electricity approved in the FERC TO rate cases. (3) The gas distribution and transmission accounts track the collection of revenue requirements approved in the GRC rate case and other proceedings. (4) Energy procurement balancing accounts track recovery of costs related to the procurement of electricity and other revenue requirements approved by the CPUC for recovery in procurement-related balancing accounts, including any environmental compliance-related activities. (5) The Public purpose programs balancing accounts are primarily used to record and recover authorized revenue requirements for CPUC-mandated programs such as energy efficiency. (6) The FHPMA tracks costs associated with the implementation of regulations and requirements adopted to protect the public from potential fire hazards which were approved for cost recovery in the 2020 WMCE final decision. (7) The WMPMA tracks costs associated with the 2019 WMP which were approved for cost recovery in the 2020 WMCE final decision. (8) The WMBA tracks costs associated with wildfire mitigation revenue requirement activities which were authorized for cost recovery in the 2021 WMCE proceeding and the final decision granting interim rate relief in connection with the 2022 WMCE application. (9) The VMBA tracks routine and enhanced vegetation management activities which were approved for cost recovery in the final decision granting interim rate relief in connection with the 2022 WMCE application. (10) The insurance premium costs accounts track the current portion of incremental excess liability insurance costs recorded to RTBA and adjustment mechanism for costs determined in other proceedings, as authorized in the 2020 GRC and 2019 GT&S, respectively. In addition to insurance premium costs recorded in Regulatory balancing accounts receivable and in noncurrent Regulatory assets above, as of December 31, 2023, and 2022 there were $0 and $48 million, respectively, in insurance premium costs recorded in current Regulatory assets. (11) The RUBA tracks costs associated with customer protections, including higher uncollectible costs related to a moratorium on electric and gas service disconnections for residential customers. The RUBA balance increased from December 31, 2022 to December 31, 2023 due to additional under-collections from residential customers, which are expected to be recovered in 2024. (12) The CEMA tracks costs associated with responding to catastrophic events that have been declared a disaster or state of emergency by competent federal or state authorities which were approved for cost recovery in the 2018 CEMA and 2020 WMCE final decisions. (13) The GRC memorandum accounts track the difference between the revenue requirements in effect on January 1, 2023 and the revenue requirements authorized by the CPUC in the 2023 GRC final decision in December 2023. (14) The Nuclear decommissioning adjustment mechanism (“NDAM”) account tracks the collection of revenue requirements associated with the decommissioning of the Utility’s nuclear facilities which were approved in the 2021 NDCTP final decision. See Note 2 above.

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