SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) today announced that it is raising its
quarterly common stock dividend by 4 cents per share to 53 cents per
share, beginning with the dividend for the second quarter of 2017. On an
annual basis, this action increases PG&E Corporation’s dividend by 8
percent, from $1.96 per share to $2.12 per share.
“This represents another significant step toward returning our dividend
payout to levels in line with those of similar energy companies.
Offering a comparable dividend positions PG&E to more cost-effectively
raise capital to support continued major investments in safety,
reliability and clean energy on behalf of our customers," said PG&E
Corporation CEO and President Geisha Williams.
The company also announced that shareholders elected Williams to the
PG&E Corporation Board of Directors, and elected former U.S. Secretary
of Homeland Security Jeh C. Johnson to the PG&E Corporation Board of
Directors and the Board of Directors of its subsidiary, Pacific Gas and
Electric Company. Secretary Johnson will serve on the Compliance and
Public Policy Committee and on the Nuclear, Operations, and Safety
Committee of the PG&E Corporation Board of Directors.
“Our customers and our company stand to benefit greatly from Secretary
Johnson’s vast experience in the public and private sectors,
particularly in matters of security, cybersecurity, critical
infrastructure protection and emergency response,” said PG&E Corporation
Executive Chair of the Board Tony Earley.
Secretary Johnson served as the head of Homeland Security from December
2013 to January 2017, and is now a partner at the international law firm
of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Previously, he served
as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense, General Counsel of
the U.S. Department of the Air Force, and Assistant U.S. Attorney in the
Southern District of New York.
Both announcements reflect PG&E’s continued focus on positioning itself
for the future. Yesterday, in remarks at the joint annual shareholders
meeting of PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company,
Williams highlighted the companies’ progress on safety, reliability and
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, among other accomplishments. She
reaffirmed PG&E’s commitment to safety and operational excellence,
delivering for customers and leading the way to achieve California’s
clean energy goals.
“Ultimately, we see PG&E as not only playing a fundamental role in
meeting our customers’ evolving energy needs, but also paving the way
for California’s sustainable energy future. Our goals and plans over the
next five years are focused on that….We are seeing exciting advancements
in areas such as distributed generation, alternative-fueled vehicles and
battery storage. Our job is to provide the platform that interconnects
all of these technologies in order to maximize their benefits for
customers,” said Williams.
At the companies’ joint annual meeting of shareholders, in addition to
electing all nominees to the PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and
Electric Company Boards of Directors, shareholders ratified the
re-appointment of the companies’ independent registered public
accounting firm, Deloitte & Touche LLP; approved the companies’
executive compensation on an advisory basis; approved an annual
frequency for the advisory vote on executive compensation; and did not
approve a shareholder proposal that PG&E Corporation discontinue its
charitable giving program unless a majority of our customers positively
affirm it through a public vote. Final voting results will be reported
in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission and will be available on the companies’ websites.
Dividend Payment and Record Dates
The PG&E Corporation Board of Directors declared the second-quarter 2017
common stock dividend of $0.53 per share, payable on July 15, 2017, to
shareholders of record on June 30, 2017. In addition, the Pacific Gas
and Electric Company Board of Directors declared the regular preferred
stock dividend for the three-month period ending July 31, 2017, payable
on August 15, 2017 to shareholders of record on July 31, 2017. Pacific
Gas and Electric Company will pay dividends on its eight series of
preferred stock as follows:
First Preferred Stock, $25 Par Value
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Quarterly Dividend to be Paid Per Share
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Redeemable
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5.00%
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$0.31250
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5.00% Series A
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$0.31250
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4.80%
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$0.30000
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4.50%
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$0.28125
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4.36%
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$0.27250
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Non-Redeemable
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6.00%
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$0.37500
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5.50%
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$0.34375
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5.00%
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$0.31250
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In order to be considered a shareholder of record for the common or
preferred dividend payment, a shareholder must have purchased the stock
at least three trading days before the applicable record date.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements
regarding PG&E Corporation’s goal to return its dividend payout to
levels in line with those of similar energy companies, and its other
goals and plans over the next five years, that are based on current
expectations and assumptions which management believes are reasonable,
and on information currently available to management, but are
necessarily subject to various risks and uncertainties. In addition to
the risk that these assumptions prove to be inaccurate, other factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contemplated by the forward-looking statements include: the outcome of
the TO rate case, the cost of capital proceeding and other rate cases;
the timing and outcome of the Butte fire litigation, whether Pacific Gas
and Electric Company’s (Utility) insurance is sufficient to cover the
Utility’s liability resulting therefrom, and whether insurance is
otherwise available; the outcome of the safety culture proceeding
pending at the California Public Utilities Commission; the Utility’s
ability to control its costs within the authorized levels of spending
and the extent to which the Utility incurs unrecoverable costs that are
higher than the forecasts of such costs; the impact of the increasing
cost of natural gas regulations; changes in cost forecasts or the scope
and timing of planned work resulting from changes in customer demand for
electricity and natural gas or other reasons; the impact that reductions
in customer demand for electricity and natural gas have on the Utility’s
ability to make and recover its investments through rates and earn its
authorized return on equity, and whether the Utility is successful in
addressing the impact of growing distributed and renewable generation
resources, changing customer demand for natural gas and electric
services, and an increasing number of customers departing for community
choice aggregators; the ability of PG&E Corporation and the Utility to
access capital markets and other sources of debt and equity financing in
a timely manner on acceptable terms; the outcome of federal or state tax
audits and the impact of any changes in federal or state tax laws,
policies, regulations, or interpretations, and the other factors
disclosed in PG&E Corporation and the Utility’s joint Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and their joint Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.
About PG&E Corporation
PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) is a Fortune 200 energy-based holding
company headquartered in San Francisco. It is the parent company of
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, California’s largest investor-owned
utility. PG&E serves nearly 16 million Californians across a
70,000-square-mile service area in Northern and Central California. For
more information, visit www.pgecorp.com
and www.pge.com.
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Source: PG&E Corporation