Published
4 years agoon
SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric and a group of insurers announced Friday they reached an $11 billion settlement to cover most of the claims from Califonria’s wildfires in 2017 and 2018.
FILE – This Nov. 15, 2018, aerial file photo shows the remains of residences leveled by the Camp wildfire in Paradise, Calif. Pacific Gas & Electric and a group of insurers say they have reached an $11 billion settlement to cover most of the claims from the 2017 and 2018 wildfires in California. The utility said in a statement Friday, Sept. 13, that the tentative agreement covers 85% of the insurance claims, including a fire that decimated the town of Paradise. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
PG&E Corp. on Monday released a plan to offer nearly $18 billion to wildfire victims, insurance companies and cities and public entities in California that battled wildfires sparked by its electrical equipment.
The plan, which must be approved by state regulators, proposed setting aside two trusts totaling $16.9 billion to pay victims and insurance companies. Another $1 billion will go toward local governments affected by the wildfires.
The company also proposed an $8.4 billion trust to pay claims to uninsured victims.
The San Francisco-based company is under deadline pressure to emerge from bankruptcy by June 2020 to participate in a state wildfire fund to help California’s major utilities pay out future claims as climate change makes wildfires across the U.S. West more frequent and more destructive.
The utility sought bankruptcy protection in January because it said it could not afford an estimated $30 billion in potential damages from lawsuits stemming from recent wildfires.
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