PG&E 2013 Annual Report Download - page 36

nuclear fuel, decommissioning, cooling water intake, or other issues; and whether the Utility decides to
request that the NRC resume processing the Utility’s renewal application for the two Diablo Canyon
operating licenses, and if so, whether the NRC grants the renewal;
• the impact of weather-related conditions or events, climate change, natural disasters, acts of terrorism, war, or
vandalism (including cyber-attacks), and other events, that can cause unplanned outages, reduce generating
output, disrupt the Utility’s service to customers, or damage or disrupt the facilities, operations, or
information technology and systems owned by the Utility, its customers, or third parties on which the Utility
relies; and subject the Utility to third-party liability for property damage or personal injury, or result in the
imposition of civil, criminal, or regulatory penalties on the Utility;
• the impact of environmental laws and regulations aimed at the reduction of carbon dioxide and GHGs, and
whether the Utility is able to continue recovering associated compliance costs, such as the cost of emission
allowances and offsets under cap-and-trade regulations and the cost of renewable energy procurement;
• changes in customer demand for electricity and natural gas resulting from unanticipated population growth or
decline in the Utility’s service area, general and regional economic and financial market conditions, the extent
of municipalization of the Utility’s electric or gas distribution facilities, changing levels of ‘‘direct access’’
customers who procure electricity from alternative energy providers, changing levels of customers who
purchase electricity from governmental bodies that act as ‘‘community choice aggregators,’’ and the
development of alternative energy technologies including self-generation, storage and distributed generation
technologies;
• the adequacy and price of electricity, natural gas, and nuclear fuel supplies; the extent to which the Utility can
manage and respond to the volatility of energy commodity prices; the ability of the Utility and its
counterparties to post or return collateral in connection with price risk management activities; and whether
the Utility is able to recover timely its energy commodity costs through rates;
• whether the Utility’s information technology, operating systems and networks, including the advanced metering
system infrastructure, customer billing, financial, and other systems, can continue to function accurately while
meeting regulatory requirements; whether the Utility is able to protect its operating systems and networks
from damage, disruption, or failure caused by cyber-attacks, computer viruses, or other hazards; whether the
Utility’s security measures are sufficient to protect confidential customer, vendor, and financial data contained
in such systems and networks; and whether the Utility can continue to rely on third-party vendors and
contractors that maintain and support some of the Utility’s operating systems;
• the extent to which costs incurred in connection with third-party claims or litigation can be recovered through
insurance, rates, or from other third parties; including the timing and amount of insurance recoveries related
to third party claims arising from the San Bruno accident;
• 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;
• changes in credit ratings which could result in increased borrowing costs especially if PG&E Corporation or
the Utility were to lose its investment grade credit ratings;
• the impact of federal or state laws or regulations, or their interpretation, on energy policy and the regulation
of utilities and their holding companies, including how the CPUC interprets and enforces the financial and
other conditions imposed on PG&E Corporation when it became the Utility’s holding company, and whether
the ultimate outcome of the pending investigations relating to the Utility’s natural gas operations affects the
Utility’s ability to make distributions to PG&E Corporation, and, in turn, PG&E Corporation’s ability to pay
dividends;
• the outcome of federal or state tax audits and the impact of any changes in federal or state tax laws, policies,
or regulations; and
• the impact of changes in GAAP, standards, rules, or policies, including those related to regulatory accounting,
and the impact of changes in their interpretation or application.
For more information about the significant risks that could affect the outcome of these forward-looking
statements and PG&E Corporation’s and the Utility’s future financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows,
see ‘‘Risk Factors’’ below. PG&E Corporation and the Utility do not undertake an obligation to update forward-
looking statements, whether in response to new information, future events, or otherwise.
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