PG&E Corp

The Utility’s operations are subject to extensive federal, state, and local laws and requirements relating to the protection of the environment and the safety and health of the Utility’s personnel and the public. These laws and requirements relate to a broad range of activities, including the remediation of hazardous and radioactive substances; the discharge of pollutants into the air, water, and soil; the reporting and reduction of CO 2 and other GHG emissions; the transportation, handling, storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel; and the environmental impacts of land use, including endangered species and habitat protection. The penalties for violation of these laws and requirements can be severe and may include significant fines, damages, and criminal or civil sanctions. These laws and requirements also may require the Utility, under certain circumstances, to interrupt or curtail operations. See Item 1A. Risk Factors. Generally, the Utility recovers most of the costs of complying with environmental laws and regulations through the Utility’s rates, subject to reasonableness review. Environmental costs associated with the clean-up of most sites that contain hazardous substances are subject to a ratemaking mechanism described in Note 15 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8.

Hazardous Substance Compliance and Remediation

The Utility’s facilities are subject to various regulations adopted by the EPA, including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended. The Utility is also subject to the regulations adopted by other federal agencies responsible for implementing federal environmental laws. The Utility also must comply with environmental laws and regulations adopted by the State of California and various state and local agencies. These federal and state laws impose strict liability for the release of a hazardous substance on the (1) owner or operator of the site where the release occurred, (2) on companies that disposed of, or arranged for the disposal of, the hazardous substances, and (3) in some cases, their corporate successors. Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, these persons (known as “potentially responsible parties”) may be jointly and severally liable for the costs of cleaning up the hazardous substances, monitoring and paying for the harm caused to natural resources, and paying for the costs of health studies.

The Utility has a comprehensive program in place to comply with these federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Under federal and California laws, the Utility may be responsible for remediation of hazardous substances even if it did not deposit those substances on the site. The Utility’s remediation activities are overseen by the DTSC, several California regional water quality control boards, and various other federal, state, and local agencies. The Utility has incurred significant environmental remediation liabilities associated with former MGP sites, power plant sites, gas gathering sites, sites where natural gas compressor stations are located, and sites used by the Utility for the storage, recycling, or disposal of potentially hazardous substances. Groundwater at the Utility’s Hinkley and Topock natural gas compressor stations contains hexavalent chromium as a result of the Utility’s past operating practices. The Utility is responsible for remediating this groundwater contamination and for abating the effects of the contamination on the environment.

For more information about environmental remediation liabilities, see Note 15 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8.

Air Quality and Climate Change

The Utility’s electric generation plants, natural gas pipeline operations, vehicle fleet, and fuel storage tanks are subject to numerous air pollution control laws, including the federal Clean Air Act, as well as state and local statutes. These laws and regulations cover, among other pollutants, those contributing to the formation of ground-level ozone, carbon dioxide (CO 2), sulfur dioxide (SO 2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter, and other emissions.

Federal Regulation

At the federal level, the EPA is charged with implementation and enforcement of the Clean Air Act. Although there have been several legislative attempts to address climate change through imposition of nationwide regulatory limits on GHG emissions, comprehensive federal legislation has not yet been enacted. In the absence of federal legislative action, the EPA has used its existing authority under the Clean Air Act to address GHG emissions.

Tackling the climate crisis is a key priority of the Biden Administration, and the Administration is using its executive and regulatory authorities to target emissions reductions in line with science-based targets. On May 11, 2023, the EPA released proposed new GHG emissions standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act. The proposal sets standards for new and existing coal and natural gas-fired plants – stringency of the standards differ based on timelines, unit type, capacity factors, and operating horizon. Most relevant to the Utility are the standards for existing natural gas units which require on affected units either the installation of carbon capture and sequestration technology beginning in 2035, or co-firing of low-GHG hydrogen beginning in 2032. The EPA expects to finalize the rule in the second quarter of 2024.

State Regulation

California laws and regulations have established the following targets:

•A 40% reduction in GHGs by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

•50% of retail energy sales to customers from renewable energy sources by 2026 and 60% by 2030.

•Economy-wide State carbon neutrality by 2045, with net negative emissions thereafter.

•Renewable and zero-carbon resources supplying 90% of utilities’ retail sales to customers by 2035, 95% by 2040, and 100% by 2045.

For the percentage of the Utility’s estimated total net deliveries of electricity to customers in 2023, including estimated GHG-free and renewable energy percentages, see “Electric Utility Operations - Electricity Resources” below.

The CARB has also approved GHG emissions reporting and a state-wide, comprehensive cap-and-trade program that sets gradually declining limits (or “caps”) on the amount of GHGs that may be emitted by major GHG emission sources within different sectors of the economy. The cap-and-trade program has been extended through 2030. The CARB plans to update the cap-and-trade regulation in 2024 and is considering reforms that would reduce overall allowance budgets to align with CARB’s 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan.

During each year of the program, the CARB issues emission allowances (i.e., the rights to emit GHGs) equal to the amount of GHG emissions allowed for that year. Entities with a compliance obligation can obtain allowances from the CARB at quarterly auctions or from third parties or exchanges. Complying entities may also satisfy a portion of their compliance obligation through the purchase of offset credits (e.g., credits for GHG reductions achieved by third parties, such as landowners, livestock owners, and farmers, that occur outside of the entities’ facilities through CARB-qualified offset projects such as reforestation or biomass projects). The Utility expects all costs and revenues associated with the GHG cap-and-trade program to be passed through to customers.

The cap-and-trade program applies to the electric generation, large industrial, natural gas, petroleum, and transportation sectors. The Utility’s compliance obligation as a natural gas supplier applies to the GHG emissions attributable to the combustion of natural gas delivered to the Utility’s customers other than large natural gas delivery customers that are separately regulated as covered entities and have their own compliance obligations.

Climate Change Resilience Strategies

Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions

During 2023, the Utility continued its programs to mitigate the impact of the Utility’s operations (including customer energy usage) on the environment, consistent with the Utility’s commitment to a healthy environment and carbon neutral-energy system for all Californians.

Adapting to the Physical Impacts of Climate Change

Effectively managing physical climate risk will become increasingly critical as the physical impacts of climate change become increasingly frequent and severe over the coming years in California. The Utility’s climate resilience efforts continue to focus on characterizing and mitigating the physical impacts of climate change to the Utility’s infrastructure, assets, and operations. The Utility is making substantial investments to build a more resilient system that can better withstand extreme weather and related emergencies. For more information on such investments, see “Performance: Underpinning the Triple Bottom Line” above.

The Utility’s preparations for the physical risks of climate change include an updated, more detailed, system‑wide CVA of the Utility’s assets, operations, and services, which will be completed and filed with the CPUC in mid-2024. The updated CVA will improve the Utility’s understanding of its exposure to climate hazards in the near- and long-term and the sensitivity of assets and operations to these hazards. It will also inform the Utility’s understanding of the ease or difficulty of various options for adapting to changing conditions.

In the past few years, the Utility’s electric distribution system has experienced multiple major outage-causing events associated with extreme heat events and peak loads. Peak loads are expected to increase with increasing temperatures due to direct impacts of ambient temperatures on equipment, increased electricity demand driven by rising air conditioning installation and usage, and continued electrification of transportation and buildings.

The Utility’s assets on the coast and in or near watersheds face potential increased exposures to coastal, riverine (fluvial), and precipitation related (pluvial) flooding because of climate‑driven changes in precipitation and sea level rise. The risk of damage to or interruptions of operations at facilities such as substations is predicted to increase over time due to sea level rise. Electric and gas equipment and safe access for operations must be prepared for these changing conditions.

Changing precipitation dynamics may impact the Utility’s hydroelectric generation. Diminishing future water availability and altered runoff timing during extreme drought poses risks to hydropower generation, operations, and revenue. Also, extreme rain events suggest enhanced risk of hydropower asset damage or failure associated with flooding, which in the worst cases (e.g., uncontrolled water release) may have catastrophic impacts.

Climate change will also continue to intensify the potential for wildfires throughout California. Models incorporating future temperature and precipitation projections suggest that landscape susceptibility to wildfire within the Utility’s service area will continue to increase over time, with an expansion of areas that may become HFTD and an intensification of risk within HFTDs. Climate change may also result in increased potential of lines to cause ignitions or to require PSPS events, as well as the potential for the Utility’s equipment to sustain damage from wildfires of any origin.

The Utility’s updated CVA will be used to inform changes to design and construction standards for equipment and facilities to increase infrastructure resilience to current and future extreme weather conditions. Results from the updated CVA will be incorporated into the Utility’s key risk and planning functions, as well as asset management strategy, to identify priority adaptive actions.

The Utility has also engaged with CPUC-designated disadvantaged and vulnerable communities throughout the CVA process to better understand customer perspectives regarding energy system resilience. The Utility has conducted regional community engagement campaigns throughout its service area to understand how some of the most vulnerable communities the Utility serves think about climate hazards and adaptation. This information will help the Utility plan adaptive climate action aligned with customer and community perspectives.

In addition to updating the CVA, the Utility regularly reviews relevant scientific literature regarding climate change to incorporate appropriate information into its operations. For example, based on a report about potential major atmospheric river events, the Utility updated and modified its flooding emergency response plan.

The Utility’s commitment to increasing resilience to climate change includes aligning its resources and business strategy with California’s clean energy goals, the Utility’s climate strategy, and advocating for policies and programs that enable safe and reliable energy for the Utility’s customers in light of climate change. For example, the Utility believes its strategies to reduce GHG emissions through energy efficiency and demand response programs, infrastructure improvements, and the use of renewable energy and energy storage will help it adapt to the expected increases in demand for electricity.

Emissions Data

PG&E Corporation and the Utility track and report their annual environmental performance results across a broad spectrum of areas. The Utility reports its GHG emissions to the CARB and the EPA on a mandatory basis. On a voluntary basis, the Utility reports a more comprehensive emissions inventory to The Climate Registry, a non-profit organization.

The following table shows the Utility’s third-party verified voluntary GHG inventory reported to The Climate Registry for 2022, which is the most recent data available.

PG&E Corporation and the Utility also publish additional GHG emissions data in their annual Corporate Sustainability Report.

(1)Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from the Utility’s operations and Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from facility electricity use and electric line losses.

(2)Scope 3 emissions are emissions resulting from downstream value chain activities not owned or controlled by the Utility but that which can be indirectly impacted by the Utility’s actions. The majority of these emissions came from customer natural gas use.

The Utility utilized the CEC’s Power Source Disclosure program methodology to calculate the CO 2 emissions rate associated with the electricity delivered to retail customers in 2022. This resulted in a third-party verified CO 2 emissions rate of 56 pounds of CO 2 per MWh.

Air Emissions Data for Utility-Owned Generation

In addition to GHG emissions data provided above, the table below sets forth information about the air emissions from the Utility’s owned generation facilities. PG&E Corporation and the Utility also publish air emissions data in their annual Corporate Sustainability Report.

Nuclear Fuel Disposal

Nuclear power plant operations produce gaseous, liquid, and solid radioactive wastes, which are covered by federal regulation. High-level radioactive wastes primarily include used nuclear fuel. Low-level waste consists primarily of demineralizer resins, paper, protective clothing, rags, tools, and equipment contaminated through use.

Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the DOE and electric utilities with commercial nuclear power plants were authorized to enter into contracts under which the DOE would be required to dispose of the utilities’ spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste by January 1998, in exchange for fees paid by the utilities’ customers. The DOE has been unable to meet its contractual obligation with the Utility to dispose of nuclear waste from the Utility’s two nuclear generating units at Diablo Canyon and the retired nuclear facility at Humboldt Bay. As a result, the Utility constructed interim dry cask storage facilities to store its spent fuel onsite at Diablo Canyon and at Humboldt Bay until the DOE fulfills its contractual obligation to take possession of the spent fuel. The Utility and other nuclear power plant owners sued the DOE to recover the costs that they incurred to construct interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel.