PG&E Corporation, through its subsidiary, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, engages in the sale and delivery of electricity and natural gas to customers in northern and central California, the United States. It generates electricity using nuclear, hydroelectric, fossil fuel-fired, fuel cells, and photovoltaic sources. The company owns and operates interconnected transmission lines; electric transmission substations, distribution lines, switching and distribution …
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Pacific Gas & Electric Co. ranks #36 of 40
scored companies in Utilities - Regulated Electric by moat score — the top 90%.
The widest moat in the group is MGE Energy Inc. (MGEE)
at 73/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near PCG in Utilities - Regulated Electric
How PCG scores on the Regulated Utilities defenses
Regulatory Franchise
Score 28
· 25% of the moat score
The franchise is the moat, granted rather than earned: an exclusive right to serve a territory in exchange for regulated prices and an obligation to supply.
Rate-Base Return Quality
Score 27
· 20% of the moat score
A utility earns an allowed return on the capital invested in its network, the rate base.
Dividend Sustainability
Score 49
· 18% of the moat score
Utilities are owned largely for income, and the dividend is only as safe as the operating cash flow behind it.
Capital Structure Discipline
Score 9
· 17% of the moat score
Regulated utilities carry more debt than almost any other sector, which suits how predictable their revenue is but makes credit quality a core competitive asset.
Operational Efficiency
Score 48
· 12% of the moat score
Efficiency is unusually consequential under regulation.
Essential Service Resilience
Score 50
· 8% of the moat score
Electricity, gas and water are bought in a recession at close to the volume bought in an expansion, which is why utility revenue barely tracks the economic cycle.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PCG) scores 32 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #36 of 40 scored companies in Utilities - Regulated Electric, the top 90%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 46 companies in Utilities - Regulated Electric. Its strongest defense is Essential Service Resilience (50/100) and its weakest is Capital Structure Discipline (9/100).
How does Pacific Gas & Electric Co. compare with other Utilities - Regulated Electric companies?
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. ranks #36 of 40 scored companies in Utilities - Regulated Electric by moat score. The widest moat in Utilities - Regulated Electric is MGE Energy Inc. (MGEE) at 73/100. The companies ranked closest are DTE Energy Company (DTE) at 36 just above it and TXNM Energy, Inc. (TXNM) at 31 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Regulated Utilities in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 46 companies in Utilities - Regulated Electric. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is Pacific Gas & Electric Co. scored with the Regulated Utilities template?
A regulated utility is a legal monopoly whose prices are set by a regulator rather than by a market. It cannot raise prices at will and it cannot be undercut, so most of the usual questions about competitive advantage barely apply. What matters is the quality of the regulatory bargain: whether the company earns the return it is allowed, funds its capital programme cheaply, and sustains the dividend investors own it for.
Which competitive defenses are measured for Pacific Gas & Electric Co.?
The Regulated Utilities template measures 6 defenses, and PCG scores: Regulatory Franchise (28), Rate-Base Return Quality (27), Dividend Sustainability (49), Capital Structure Discipline (9), Operational Efficiency (48), Essential Service Resilience (50). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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