Pacific Gas & Electric is seeking to raise up to $1 billion for transmission projects by leasing parts of its transmission assets to Citizens Energy Corporation, a nonprofit power provider, according to a filing at the California Public Utilities Commission.
The investments by Citizens will be made in five parts, with Citizens providing approximately $200 million in up-front payments for each tranche. It will allow PG&E to accelerate infrastructure investments.
Citizens, based in Boston, will dedicate part of its after-tax profits from the arrangement — 50 percent initially and ramping up to 90 percent — to fund energy-related charitable programs for disadvantaged communities and low-income families in PG&E’s service territory in Northern and Central California. The program is designed so that customers would pay no more for electric system work on the leased trans