NEWS: San Francisco claims that a city grid takeover would cost $3.4B…but PG&E puts the price tag 6X higher.

The context: Frisco officials have spent a century trying to buy PG&E’s assets and create a city-run electric utility, claiming it would deliver more affordable and reliable service. 

Sticker shock: Now, the city is clashing with PG&E over the cost to do so. The utility says that a takeover would run San Francisco $22.5B, compared with the city’s $3.4B estimate. The far steeper figure includes nearly $9B in damages for lost business and grid separation.

PG&E’s POV: “A government takeover of our grid is not the right solution for our San Francisco customers,” PG&E CEO Patti Poppe said in a statement. “We have decades of specialized expertise operating San Francisco’s complex electric system. And now our filing shows that a takeover doesn’t make financial sense for customers.”

The city’s response: “A utility with a financial interest in protecting its monopoly doesn’t have the last word on what its assets are worth. There’s a process to determine the true cost,” City Attorney David Chiu told KQED. That figure likely falls somewhere between the two estimates…and the final say is up to the CPUC, who’s expected to decide sometime next year. 

And if a deal doesn’t work out? SF could harness eminent domain to force a takeover.