California’s “leadership in electrification” will be a key driver of Pacific Gas and Electric’s expected customer growth over the next five years, CEO Patti Poppe said during an earnings call.

Western regulators heard from a power panel of CEOs on maintaining grid reliability in the face of fires, storms, extreme heat and supply chain disruptions.

PG&E CEO Patti Poppe said the utility is slowing the pace of its efforts to bury 10,000 miles of distribution lines to prevent wildfire ignitions.

PG&E said in a Q3 earnings call it faces $100 million in costs from this year's Mosquito Fire, plus a $155 million fine for the deadly Zogg Fire in 2020.

In a Q4 call, PG&E for the first time put a price tag of more than $25 billion on its proposal to underground 10,000 miles of lines in high-threat fire areas.