SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric is still operating a rickety power line near the one that ignited a 2018 wildfire that wiped out the Northern California city of Paradise and killed 85 people, according to an expert inspection conducted as part of a legal claim. In an inspection...
PG&E Clears Another Bankruptcy Hurdle With Debt Refinancing
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Tuesday approved a settlement that moves Pacific Gas & Electric closer to getting out of bankruptcy, but the troubled utility still must navigate nettlesome obstacles being put up by the state of California. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali signed off on a deal...
Judge Threatens to Force PG&E to Hire More Tree Trimmers
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Thursday threatened to force Pacific Gas & Electric to hire more tree trimmers to reduce the chances of its electrical grid igniting fires in Northern California and adhere to a requirement imposed after the utility's natural gas lines blew up a neighborhood a...
Assemblyman Adam Gray Demands Probe of PG&E's Chief Regulator
SAN FRANCISCO — A state lawmaker on Wednesday demanded an extensive review of the California Public Utilities Commission to determine whether regulators’ lax oversight enabled neglect at Pacific Gas & Electric that triggered catastrophic wildfires, a messy bankruptcy and exasperating blackouts. The request by Assemblyman Adam Gray could turn up...
Sonoma County Prepares to Sue PG&E for Damages From Fire
SONOMA — A county in Northern California wine country is exploring plans to sue a utility over a massive wildfire last fall that caused losses of $725 million when combined with rolling power shutoffs. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to hire two law firms to pursue legal...
Gov. Newsom Had 'Baptism by Fire' in 1st Year
SACRAMENTO — During his inaugural address last January, Gov. Gavin Newsom made only a passing reference to wildfires and never mentioned the state's largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric. Both soon became inescapable topics. PG&E filed for bankruptcy barely three weeks after the Democratic governor was sworn in, triggering a series of...
Judge OKs Nearly $25 Billion for PG&E Fire Victims, Insurers
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved two Pacific Gas & Electric settlements totaling $24.5 billion to help pay the losses suffered by homeowners, businesses and insurers in the aftermath of catastrophic Northern California wildfires that sent the nation’s largest utility into a financial morass. The decision...
A Better Way: Let’s Give PG&E's Customers the Reins
“I think it’s wrong that only one company makes the game 'Monopoly.' ”— Steven Wright The light at the end of the utilities’ tunnel has been shut off for the hundreds of thousands of California residents who have recently lost their power, been evacuated from their homes, or worse. The...
Latest Fire-Prevention Power Outage Ending in California
SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric expected to restore power Thursday to virtually all the 120,000 people it intentionally blacked out to avoid the risk of catastrophic wildfires. The nation’s largest utility cut the juice on Wednesday in 10 Northern and central California counties because of concerns that dry,...
Utility’s Boss to Testify About Power Shutoffs in California
SACRAMENTO — The CEO of the nation’s largest utility is expected to face angry California lawmakers on Monday over the company’s decision to turn off power for millions of people to prevent its outdated equipment from starting wildfires. Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. CEO Bill Johnson is scheduled to testify...