Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
PG&E to Pay $1 Billion to Local Governments for Wildfire Damage
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
June 19, 2019

Share

SACRAMENTO — A California utility agreed Tuesday to pay $1 billion to 14 local governments to cover damages from a series of deadly wildfires caused by its downed power lines.

“There is some relief and hope in knowing that we will have some financial stability. We can’t do disaster recovery and rebuild the town if we don’t have people to do it.” — Paradise Town Manager Lauren Gill
The settlement is a sliver of the more than $30 billion in potential damages Pacific Gas & Electric is facing in lawsuits filed by local governments, insurance companies and private property owners.
More than half of the $1 billion in the agreement would go to four governments impacted by a 2018 fire that killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 14,000 homes in Northern California.
A total of $270 million would go to Paradise, which was mostly destroyed in the blaze. The town had 26,000 residents before the fire and now has less than 3,000. It has lost more than 90% of its tax revenue.
“There is some relief and hope in knowing that we will have some financial stability,” Paradise Town Manager Lauren Gill said. “We can’t do disaster recovery and rebuild the town if we don’t have people to do it.”
The settlement also covers a 2015 fire in Calaveras County and a series of 2017 fires in wine country.

Regulators Agreed to Let Utilities Temporarily Cut Electricity

PG&E filed for bankruptcy in January. The agreement would resolve claims from some local governments, but it still must be approved by a bankruptcy court. That likely won’t happen until lawsuits by insurance companies and private property owners are resolved.
“The bankruptcy court approval is not trivial,” said Mike Danko, part of a group of attorneys who represent about 2,800 wildfire victims in a lawsuit against PG&E. Danko said they are “definitely not” close to resolving the lawsuit.
PG&E spokesman Paul Doherty called the settlement “an important first step toward an orderly, fair and expeditious resolution of wildfire claims.”
“We remain focused on supporting our customers and communities impacted by wildfires and helping them recover and rebuild,” he said.
High winds knocking down power lines during hot, dry weather have been blamed for starting several of the state’s most destructive wildfires.
Last month, regulators agreed to let utilities temporarily cut off electricity to possibly hundreds of thousands of customers during peak fire conditions to avoid starting more wildfires.

Wildfire Liabilities Could Force Rate Increases Later This Year

The outages could mean multiday blackouts for cities as large as San Francisco and San Jose, Northern California’s major power provider warned in a recent filing with the utilities commission.

“Nobody who lives in the wildfire zone should consider themselves to have reliable electricity. They should prepare accordingly.” — Mike Picker, president, California Public Utilities Commission
“Nobody who lives in the wildfire zone should consider themselves to have reliable electricity. They should prepare accordingly,” Mike Picker, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, told the Sacramento Press Club on Tuesday.
California’s other two investor-owned utilities have also warned that wildfire liabilities could force rate increases later this year.
State lawmakers are considering legislation that would set up a fund to help utility companies pay damages related to wildfires caused by their equipment.
California state Sen. Bill Dodd, a Democrat from Napa, said the fund could total anywhere between $24 billion and $50 billion, mostly paid for by utilities and their shareholders.
“It’s important that we put together a program that ratepayers aren’t the victims once again,” he said.

DON'T MISS

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

DON'T MISS

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Halts Dozens of Research Grants at Princeton University

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

DON'T MISS

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

DON'T MISS

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

DON'T MISS

Auto Sales Surged in Anticipation of Trump’s Tariffs

DON'T MISS

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

UP NEXT

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

UP NEXT

Lakers Hold Off Rockets With 6 3-Pointers Apiece From Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent

UP NEXT

Athletics Bat Boy Stewart Thalblum Takes Down Drone in Left Field

UP NEXT

NFL Postpones Tush Push Decision but Passes Other Rule Changes, AP Source Says

UP NEXT

March Madness: It’s South Carolina vs. Texas and UCLA vs. UConn in Women’s Final Four

UP NEXT

Major Layoffs Begin at Health Agencies That Track Disease and Regulate Food

UP NEXT

CA Snowpack Is Near-Average. What Does This Mean for Water Supplies?

UP NEXT

U.S. Bank Executive Terry Dolan Dies in Plane Crash Near Minneapolis

UP NEXT

California Gov. Newsom Says the Democratic Brand Is ‘Toxic’

UP NEXT

Silver Fire Grows to 1,250 Acres, Threatens Homes in Inyo County

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

12 hours ago

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

13 hours ago

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

13 hours ago

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

14 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

14 hours ago

Auto Sales Surged in Anticipation of Trump’s Tariffs

15 hours ago

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

15 hours ago

House Speaker Johnson Fails to Squash a Proxy Voting Effort From New Moms in Congress

15 hours ago

UN Agency Closes Its Remaining Gaza Bakeries as Food Supplies Dwindle Under Israeli Blockade

15 hours ago

Hooters Goes Bust and Files for Bankruptcy Protection

15 hours ago

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

Elon Musk has reclaimed his position as the world’s wealthiest individual, according to Forbes’ 39th annual World’s Billio...

10 hours ago

10 hours ago

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

12 hours ago

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

Nassau Hall at Princeton University is in Princeton, N.J., Oct. 8, 2024. (AP File)
12 hours ago

Trump Administration Halts Dozens of Research Grants at Princeton University

After 31 years of service, Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputy IV and Pilot Michael Sill is retiring, having logged over 10,000 flight hours.
12 hours ago

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

Khalid Ahmad holds a poster of his 17-year-old son, Waleed, who died in an Israeli prison, that reads in Arabic, "The hero prisoner Martyr, mercy and eternity for our righteous Martyrs," in the West Bank town of Silwad, northeast of Ramallah Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP/Nasser Nasser)
13 hours ago

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

13 hours ago

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

14 hours ago

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

Vehicles at an Audi showroom in Miami, March 29, 2025. President Donald Trump has said that tariffs would encourage auto companies and their suppliers to move to the U.S. (Saul Martinez/The New York Times)
14 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend