PG&E slips after WSJ reports company delayed safety overhaul

(Reuters) - Shares of PG&E Corp fell about 3 percent after the Wall Street Journal reported here that the utility company had repeatedly delayed a safety overhaul of a century-old high-voltage transmission line, a prime suspect behind the deadliest wildfire in California history.

PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection in January in anticipation of liabilities from the wildfires, including a catastrophic 2018 blaze that killed 86 people.

The WSJ reported that the company told federal regulators in 2013 it planned to replace many of the towers, wires and hardware pieces on the line, called the Caribou-Palermo, citing regulatory filings.

The utility provides electricity and natural gas to 16 million customers in northern and central California and employs 24,000 people.

PG&E is seeking court approval for $5.5 billion in debtor-in-possession financing from J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, and other banks, the sum being roughly the same as the power company’s annual spending.

The company’s shares were down 2.5 percent at $18.06 in afternoon trading on Wednesday.

Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Sriraj Kalluvila