PG&E Corp. $100M Securities Class Action Settlement

William C. Gendron

Editor in Chief

Published

March 30, 2026 3:34 PM

Updated

March 30, 2026

Who can file a claim?

The settlement includes all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired PG&E securities between April 29, 2015, and Nov. 15, 2018, inclusive, and sustained damages as a result. Eligible securities include PG&E common stock, preferred stock, exchange-traded call and put options, and certain PG&E notes (a full list of eligible securities appears in Schedule A of the class notice on pages 26-28).

Additional details

Both individuals and entities can be class members.
Investors who held PG&E securities only through a mutual fund are not class members, but the mutual fund may be.
All joint owners must sign the claim form.
Executors, administrators, trustees and other representatives may submit claims on behalf of others and must provide proof of authority.
Settlement class members who previously filed a rescission or damage claim in PG&E's Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases must also submit a claim form in this settlement to receive a payment.

How much is the PG&E payout?

The total settlement fund is $100,000,000. The amount each class member will receive depends on several factors:

The number of valid claims submitted
The type and number of PG&E securities purchased or acquired during the class period
The timing of each purchase, sale and holding
Whether the class member held securities through certain corrective disclosure dates
Whether the class member previously filed a rescission or damage claim in the Chapter 11 cases
The total recognized claims of all claimants

The settlement administrator will distribute payments on a pro rata basis according to the court-approved plan of allocation. The fund is split between equity claims (at least 83.85% of the settlement amount) and debt claims (up to 16.15%):

Estimated average recoveries before deductions for attorneys' fees and expenses vary by security type: approximately $0.13 per share for common stock, $0.03 per share for preferred stock, $2.95 per note for Securities Act notes and $0.22 per note for Exchange Act notes.
After deductions, estimated net recoveries are approximately $0.09 per share for common stock, $0.02 per share for preferred stock, $2.04 per note for Securities Act notes and $0.15 per note for Exchange Act notes.
Actual payments may be higher or lower depending on individual claims and the total number of valid claims.
The settlement administrator will calculate each class member's payment based on the recognized loss amount assigned to each transaction.
Recognized loss amounts depend on purchase and sale timing. The settlement administrator will calculate them using artificial inflation tables posted on the settlement website.
The settlement administrator will apply different formulas depending on the type of security:

For common stock sold before Oct. 12, 2017, the recognized loss is $0.
For common stock sold from Oct. 12, 2017, through Nov. 14, 2018, the recognized loss is the artificial inflation on the date of purchase minus the artificial inflation on the date of sale.
For common stock sold from Nov. 15, 2018, through Feb. 12, 2019 (the 90-day lookback period), the recognized loss is the least of the artificial inflation on the date of purchase, the purchase price minus the rolling average closing price through the date of sale or the out-of-pocket loss.
For common stock held as of the close of trading on Feb. 12, 2019, the recognized loss is the lesser of the artificial inflation on the date of purchase or the purchase price minus $19.42 (the average closing price during the 90-day lookback period).

Separate formulas apply to preferred stock, Exchange Act notes, Securities Act notes and exchange-traded options. The full plan of allocation is available on the settlement website.
Securities Act note recognized loss amounts receive a 25% upward adjustment to reflect the litigation advantage of Securities Act claims over Exchange Act claims.
Class members who previously filed a rescission or damage claim in PG&E's Chapter 11 cases will receive a 25% increase to their overall recognized claim.
The settlement administrator caps claims for PG&E call and put options at 1% of the fund.
The settlement administrator will set any recognized loss that calculates to a negative number to $0.
If total recognized claims exceed the fund, the settlement administrator will reduce payments on a pro rata basis.
Class members whose payment would be less than $10 will not receive a payout.

How to claim a PG&E securities class action settlement payment

Class members may file a claim online or download, print and complete the PDF claim form and mail it to the settlement administrator. The claim deadline is July 6, 2026.

Settlement administrator's mailing address: PG&E Corp. Securities Litigation, c/o A.B. Data Ltd., P.O. Box 173069, Milwaukee, WI 53217

Proof or documentation required to submit a claim

All class members must provide the last four digits of their Social Security number or taxpayer identification number. They must also provide holdings, purchase, acquisition and sale information, including:

Holdings of PG&E common stock as of the opening of trading on April 29, 2015
Purchases and sales of PG&E common stock from April 29, 2015, through Feb. 12, 2019
Holdings of PG&E common stock as of the close of trading on Feb. 12, 2019

For preferred stock, Exchange Act notes and exchange-traded options: similar beginning holdings, transaction details and ending holdings for the applicable periods
For Securities Act notes: purchases from the note issue date through June 30, 2020, and sales through June 30, 2020

Whether the class member filed a rescission or damage claim in PG&E's Chapter 11 cases and the claim number

Class members must also provide documentation to support their transactions in PG&E securities. Acceptable proof includes:

Broker confirmation slips
Broker account statements
Authorized statements from a broker containing the transactional and holding information found in a confirmation slip or account statement

Payout options

Physical check

$100 million settlement fund

The $100,000,000 settlement fund includes:

Settlement administration costs: To be determined
Attorneys' fees: Up to $25,000,000
Attorneys' expenses: Up to $5,715,000
Payments to eligible class members: Remainder of the fund

Important dates

Opt-out deadline: July 6, 2026
Deadline to file a claim: July 6, 2026
Fairness hearing: Aug. 25, 2026

When is the PG&E securities class action settlement payout date?

The settlement administrator will issue payments after it processes all claims and the court grants final approval of the settlement and any appeals are resolved.

Why did this class action settlement happen?

The class action lawsuit alleged PG&E Corp. and certain officers, directors and underwriters made false and misleading statements about the company's safety practices, vegetation management operations, regulatory compliance and wildfire risk. The plaintiffs claimed these misrepresentations artificially inflated PG&E securities prices and caused investor losses when news linked PG&E to multiple Northern California wildfires in 2017 and 2018. The settlement also resolves rescission or damage claims filed by investors in PG&E's Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.

PG&E and the other defendants denied all allegations of wrongdoing but agreed to settle to avoid the costs, risks and delays of continued litigation.