The Pacific Gas and Electric Company is an investor-owned electric utility with publicly traded stock that is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building in San Francisco. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to most of the northern two-thirds of California, from Bakersfield almost to the Oregon border which represents 5.2 million households. PG&E is overseen by the California Public Utilities Commission. It is the leading subsidiary of the holding company PG&E Corporation which has a market capitalization of $29.37 billion. It was founded by George H. Roe during the period after California's Gold Rush and by 1984 was the United States "largest electric utility business". PG&E is one of three regulated, investor-owned utilities s in California—the other two being Southern California Edison and Sempra Energy's San Diego Gas & Electric.HistoryEarly historySan Francisco GasIn the 1850s, manufactured gas was introduced in the United States as a means of lighting. Gasworks were built in the larger eastern American cities, but there was no gas industry in the West, however. In San Francisco, street lighting was available only on Merchant Street, in the form of oil lamps.
