OAKLAND, California — PG&E profits soared during its second quarter, powered by higher monthly bills that are rising far faster than the Bay Area’s overall inflation rate.

During the April-through-June second quarter, PG&E posted a profit of $520 million, which was up 28.1% from the utility titan’s profits from the same three-month period the year before, the company reported Thursday.

Oakland-based PG&E generated $5.99 billion in operating revenue in the 2024 second quarter, which was up 13.2% from the same quarter in 2023.

Electricity operations were the primary driver of the jump in overall revenue, although PG&E’s gas revenues were also higher.

Revenue for electricity operations totaled $4.46 billion in the April-June quarter, which was up 15.7% from the year before.

Natural gas operations generated $1.53 billion in revenue, an increase of 6.3% from the year-ago second quarter.

Over the 12 months ending in January 2024, combined bills for a typical residential customer who received electricity and gas services from PG&E averaged roughly $294.50 a month.

That was a 22.3% increase over the average monthly bill in January 2023. In sharp contrast, the Bay Area inflation rate rose 2.6% during 2023.

Despite these ominous trends, PG&E executives believe monthly bills for its residential customers will start to decrease at some point in the next few years.

‘We…see a bright future where we lower average household energy costs, including from transportation, and further cut carbon emissions,” said PG&E Chief Executive Officer Patricia Poppe.

Excluding certain items that are not directly related to PG&E’s typical operations, adjusted profits for PG&E totaled $674 million in the second quarter, a 36.4% increase from the same period a year ago.

“We’re delivering for our customers and hometowns today through a foundation of safe operations, wildfire risk reduction and solid financial progress,” Poppe said.

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