SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric may cut power to try to head off wildfires as fall arrives in California and brings with it the most dangerous fire conditions that over the past two years have produced the deadliest and most destructive blazes in state history. The San Francisco...
PG&E Reaches $11B Deal With California Wildfire Insurers
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. The utility said in a statement the tentative agreement covers 85% of the insurance claims from fires...
Report: PG&E Ignored Repairs on Aging Power Lines
SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric, which is blamed for some of California's deadliest recent fires, knew for years that dozens of its aging power lines posed a wildfire threat but avoided replacing or repairing them, it was reported Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal, using company documents obtained under the federal...
PG&E to Pay $1 Billion to Local Governments for Wildfire Damage
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. The settlement is a sliver of the more than $30 billion in potential damages Pacific Gas & Electric is facing...
Insurance Claims from Deadly California Wildfires Top $12B
SACRAMENTO — Insurance claims have topped $12 billion for the November wildfires in California, making them the most expensive in state history. The figure released Wednesday by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara covers the fire that largely destroyed the town of Paradise and two Southern California blazes. It's up about $600...
California Regulators Approve $373M PG&E Rate Hike
SAN FRANCISCO — California regulators have approved a $373 million rate hike for Pacific Gas & Electric to pay costs related to a series of wildfires. KTVU-TV says the California Public Utilities Commission Thursday unanimously OK'd an increase that raises the average bill by $3.50 a month over 12 months. The station...
PG&E: Company’s Equipment May Have Ignited Camp Fire
NEW YORK — Pacific Gas & Electric says its equipment may have ignited the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 86 people and destroyed an entire town in Northern California. The embattled utility said Thursday it's taking a $10.5 billion charge for claims connected to the Camp Fire in its fourth...
PG&E Vows to Improve Wildfire Prevention
SAN FRANCISCO — Up to 5 million California customers could temporarily lose power this year in the name of wildfire prevention if regulators approve Pacific Gas & Electric's $2.3 billion safety proposal submitted Wednesday. PG&E unveiled the preventive blackout strategy for the first time late last year, getting regulatory permission...
Will PG&E Customers Pay More in Bankruptcy? Not if Watchdog Can Stop It
The consumer watchdog arm of the California Public Utilities Commission says millions of Pacific Gas & Electric customers should not have to bear the brunt of the utility’s misdeeds if it was responsible for two of the most destructive wildfires in California. “We should definitely not assume that because PG&E...
5 Found Dead in Cars as Fire Incinerates N. California Town
PARADISE, Calif. — Five people were found dead in their burned-out vehicles after a Northern California wildfire incinerated most of a town of about 30,000 people with flames that moved so fast there was nothing firefighters could do, authorities said Friday. Only a day after it began, the blaze near...