US offers PG&E up to $15 billion conditional loan for climate resilience

The United States offered a conditional loan of up to $15 billion to California-based utility PG&E to support climate resilience projects and upgrade the electrical grid, the Department of Energy said on Tuesday.

PG&E, a natural gas and electric utility, is the parent company of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, one of the largest U.S. utility providers serving about 16 million people across northern and central California.

If the record loan is finalized by the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office, it will be used to fund projects that refurbish PG&E's hydroelectric infrastructure and power lines and will be provided in cash installments over several years. The loan would also go to expanding battery energy storage and transmission.

The administration of President Joe Biden is rushing to push out billions of dollars in financing from the LPO as the office faces an uncertain future under President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20.

Earlier this month, PG&E said it planned to raise $2.4 billion from investors via a stock offering.

The DOE and PG&E must satisfy technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before the U.S. enters into definitive financing documents and funds the loan.

U.S. utilities have been making stock offerings and filing rate case requests to fund their infrastructure upgrades as the country's power grids face extreme weather conditions such as hurricanes and wildfires, and surging demand from industrial customers like data centers.

PG&E did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.