PG&E Has Plan to Counter California Politicians’ Break-Up Push

PG&E Corp. head Patti Poppe says her company’s best defense against politicians vowing to break it up is to lower her customers’ bills.

California’s largest utility finds itself under attack, five years after it emerged from bankruptcy. Billionaire investor Tom Steyer, now running for governor, airs TV ads pledging to end the company’s monopoly and make electricity more affordable. Officials in PG&E’s former hometown of San Francisco, angered by a recent blackout that darkened a third of the city, want to seize its equipment.

Poppe, the utility’s chief executive officer since 2021, says PG&E is focused on delivering reliable service and steady bills, after ...