(San Francisco) - PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG)
will report financial results for the fourth quarter
and the full year 2003 on the morning of February
19, 2004. A conference call with the financial community
will be held that day at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time (8:00
a.m. Pacific) to discuss the results.
PG&E Corporation and its utility business, Pacific
Gas and Electric Company, do not expect to have a final
decision by the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) in the utility's 2003 General Rate Case (GRC)
in time to be included in the financial results announced
next week.
The absence of a final GRC decision will not significantly
affect Pacific Gas and Electric Company's or PG&E
Corporation's 2003 total net income or overall revenues,
because the majority of any revenues authorized in the
GRC will come from existing headroom*, which will be
included in total net income. However, the absence of
the GRC decision will be reflected in lower-than-estimated
earnings from operations. PG&E Corporation previously
stated that its $1.90-$2.00 per share estimate for earnings
from operations included the effects of a GRC decision,
and advised investors that achieving that range would
depend on the timing of the decision.
In September 2003, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
entered into a settlement agreement with consumer groups
and the CPUC's Office of Ratepayer Advocates to resolve
the General Rate Case. The settlement agreement would
authorize additional revenues (effective retroactively
to January 1, 2003) for electric and gas distribution
and electric generation to cover costs associated with
rate base growth and inflation. Further, it would provide
a mechanism for timely and predictable revenue adjustments
in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Notwithstanding the revenue
increases, the GRC settlement agreement enables Pacific
Gas and Electric Company to lower electric rates substantially
for customers. Electric rates are currently expected
to go down by approximately $800 million in 2004 alone.
The financial results reported on Feb. 19 are expected
to reflect complete consolidated results for PG&E
Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company. However,
if a final review of 2003 results for the Corporation's
National Energy & Gas Transmission, Inc. (NEGT)
subsidiary is not complete at that time, the Corporation
will announce results for Pacific Gas and Electric Company
on a stand-alone basis, and Pacific Gas and Electric
Company will file a separate Form 10-K. PG&E Corporation
would file its Form 10-K reporting consolidated results
later once the review of NEGT results is complete.
NEGT filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on July 8,
2003. Since then, PG&E Corporation no longer has
had representatives on NEGT's Board of Directors and
no longer retains significant influence over the ongoing
operations of NEGT. However, PG&E Corporation is
still required to provide 2003 year-end financial statements
that consolidate NEGT's results for the time period
before its Chapter 11 filing.
The conference call on Feb. 19 will be open to the
public on a listen-only basis via webcast. Please visit
our website at www.pgecorp.com for more information
and instructions for accessing the webcast. The call
will be archived at www.pgecorp.com for 90 days. Alternatively,
a toll-free replay of the conference call may be accessed
shortly after the live call through 9:00 p.m. EST, February
26 by dialing 877.470.0867. International callers may
dial 402.220.0642.
* Headroom is the difference between Pacific Gas and
Electric Company's generation-related revenues and its
generation-related costs.