PG&E, Edison Plummet Most in 16 Years on Wildfire Fallout

(Bloomberg) -- The wildfires in northern and southern California have sent shares of the state’s two largest utility owners falling the most since the power crisis more than a decade ago.

Trading in PG&E Corp. was briefly halted Monday after shares plummeted more than 37 percent. The stock has fallen as much as 48 percent in two days of trading since the Camp Fire broke out north of San Francisco last week.

Edison International lost more than a third of its value since fires broke out near Los Angeles. For both companies, the declines are among the steepest since power shortages triggered rolling blackouts across the state in 2000-2001 -- a crisis that eventually forced PG&E’s utility subsidiary to file for bankruptcy protection.

Investors are concerned about utility liabilities associated with the fires. Authorities are investigating electrical equipment as one of several possible causes of the so-called Camp Fire, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco. A PG&E transmission line in the area went offline 15 minutes before the blaze was first reported, and the company reported finding a damaged transmission tower near where investigators say the fire began.

Edison’s Southern California Edison utility said late Friday a power outage occurred near the suspected starting point of one of the fires near Los Angeles and that a sensor detected a disturbance in its equipment two minutes before the blaze was reported. The company said there had been no determination of origin or cause and that it will cooperate with the investigation.

The wildfires have destroyed more than 6,700 structures and could cost the state, insurers and homeowners at least $19 billion in damages, according to an estimate by Enki Research.

“We’re not going to speculate or comment on what factors may or may not be impacting the market,” said Paul Doherty, spokesman for San Francisco-based PG&E. “Right now, our entire company is focused on supporting first responders and assisting our customers and communities impacted by the Camp Fire.”

PG&E was the worst performing stock on the S&P 500 Index on Monday. The shares recovered a bit from their earlier plunge to trade at $33.74, down 15 percent, as of 11:06 a.m. in New York. Edison, which was down 10 percent for the day at $54.76, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Susquehanna Financial Group estimates that PG&E could face as much as $5 billion in liabilities from the blaze. That would come on top of last year’s deadly fires that could cost as much as $17.3 billion, according to a JPMorgan Chase & Co. estimate. PG&E is still awaiting a state report on the cause of the Tubbs fire, the deadliest of the 2017 wine country fires.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Ryan in New York at jryan173@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Ryan at jryan173@bloomberg.net, Tina Davis

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