PG&E Reportedly Nears $1.7 Billion California Wildfires Settlement

19 November 2019

USA – Topline: As it continues to struggle with bankruptcy and public backlash over its role in sparking California wildfires, the embattled Pacific Gas & Electric Company is reportedly nearing a $1.7 billion settlement with state regulators for starting wildfires in 2017, according to Bloomberg.

The embattled utility company also agreed to invest $50 million in corrective measures, with the rest of the settlement including money that the company has already spent on maintenance and inspections, according to Bloomberg’s report.
The penalties are tied to a case with the California Public Utilities Commission, in which PG&E’s wildfire safety practices were found to be unsafe and against state rules.
This latest settlement does not, however, cover any of PG&E’s violations associated with starting the wildfires that broke out in 2018, including the Camp Fire, which was the deadliest in California history and killed 85 people.
PG&E was forced into bankruptcy after state investigators found that the company was responsible for a slew of California wildfires in 2017 and 2018, as it failed to properly maintain equipment such as faulty power lines, which led to the fires.
This latest settlement will eliminate some overhang for PG&E, according to Bloomberg, as the company faces $30 billion in liabilities and penalties for its role in starting the wildfires—although it has already set aside the vast majority of those funds.
PG&E said last month that it had also reached an $11 billion settlement with insurance companies, which included damages claims from both 2017 and 2018.

Key background: Wildfires have devastated California over the last three years, burning down entire towns and killing hundreds. The issue has been made worse by a deadly combination of malfunctioning electrical equipment and climate change. PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection in January, after its equipment was found to have caused the devastating 2018 Camp Fire. The struggling utility company is now navigating a host a settlements and damages claims, not to mention a plunging stock price and calls for new ownership.

News peg: In a bid to prevent even more fires from breaking out, PG&E has been cutting off power to millions of people in recent months, prompting more chaos and public frustration. The company is also still in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, as it looks to pay off the damages and penalties from its role in the devastating wildfires. State and local California officials have been debating what to do with PG&E: San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo has said that the investor-owned company could be bought by a group of cities and transformed into a customer-owned nonprofit, while state senator Scott Wiener is reportedly planning to introduce a bill next year to make the company publicly owned.

19. November 2019/by GFMCadmin