PG&E is a public utilty under the commonly understood definition. And you can fix a privately owned public utility through regulation in essentially the same way since its heavily regularted by California Public Utilities Commission.

But the state-owned public utilities are just as incompetently run. For example, the state-owned water utilities are mentally disabling young kids all across the country.

There is a common problem whether state-run or just state-regulated. The government wants to keep rates low. So they refuse to perform proper maintenance and upgrades.