PG&E shares crater again; Newsom asks Buffett to buy utility

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, (center) and Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore arrive for a press conference at the Cal Fire Healdsburg Station on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019, near Geyserville, Calif. Newsom called on investor Warren Buffett buy the troubled utility, whose share price tanked again Monday. less California Gov. Gavin Newsom, (center) and Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore arrive for a press conference at the Cal Fire Healdsburg Station on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019, near Geyserville, Calif. Newsom called ... more Photo: Christopher Chung / Associated Press Photo: Christopher Chung / Associated Press Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close PG&E shares crater again; Newsom asks Buffett to buy utility 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Battered Pacific Gas and Electric stock, fresh off an all-time low, continued to hemorrhage Monday as the Kincade Fire raged in Northern California.

Shares plunged another 30 percent to a low of $3.55 before recovering some ground. On Friday, the stock closed at $5.00, then its lowest-ever price.

At a news conference Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom encouraged billionaire investor Warren Buffett to buy the troubled utility, which has been linked to the 60,000-plus-acre fire burning in Sonoma County. The fire originated near a company transmission tower that experienced a malfunction.

Newsom wants Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate to make a bid for PG&E, but Buffett has so far been silent about the proposal.

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Never try to catch a falling knife is Wall Street cliche that warns against buying a stock which is dropping sharply, so it's not surprising that Buffett might find PG&E a less than appealing target.

In April, Buffett shot down a Bloomberg report that Berkshire Hathaway was in talks to acquire the company, calling it "100% not true."

PG&E, California's largest investor-owned utility, filed for bankruptcy in January as part of a reorganization to deal with $30 billion in wildfire liabilities resulting from the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 85 people. If found to have responsibility in the Kincade Fire, its efforts to emerge from bankruptcy could be severely undermined.



Citi analyst Praful Mehta said earlier this month that there was a 75% probability PG&E stock would fall to zero. He renewed the call Friday, saying "shareholders are worried — and should be," Bloomberg reported.



More Kincade Fire coverage:

— Kincade Fire containment drops to 5% after brutal day on fire lines

— 102 mph gust recorded in Sonoma County: Sustained winds break hurricane force

— Tuesday wind event will trigger even more PG&E power shut-offs

— Maps: Kincade Fire burning in north Sonoma County

— Road closures, evacuation shelter locations near Kincade Fire

— What to do to keep wildfire smoke out of your house

— Full California wildfire coverage

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Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate