The National Weather Service Hanford office computer models have shown stagnant smoky air hovering over the areas of the Creek Fire and the SQF Complex fire in Tulare county for several weeks. The valley will likely be impacted this weekend. "We will see a wind shift late this weekend from...
PG&E Customers Can Find Out If Rolling Blackouts Will Affect Their House
Congratulations, Fresno and Clovis. Pacific Gas & Electric officials rolled out a mission Monday — conserve energy to avoid rolling blackouts — and residents throughout the utility's service area carried it out. Now, the question is: Will residents save enough juice to avoid rotating power outages Tuesday evening? As of...
Blackouts & Record Temps: 112 in Fresno, 130 in Death Valley
Heat records fell throughout the Valley on Sunday as a relentless heatwave baked California and sapped the state's power supply. But Fresno's record high of 112 degrees for Aug. 16 — which bettered the mark of 110 set in 1920 — was no match for the 130 degrees reported in...
Families of California Wildfire Victims Slam PG&E for Crimes
The families of some of the 85 people killed by a horrific Northern California wildfire ignited by Pacific Gas & Electric's long-neglected equipment vilified the company Wednesday as greedy, corrupt and reckless, telling heartbreaking stories of their loss in court. The speakers tearfully told of holiday and birthday celebrations that...
PG&E to Plead Guilty to Deaths From California Wildfire
SAN RAMON — Pacific Gas & Electric is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter during a court hearing in which the nation's largest utility will be confronted with its history of neglect and greed that culminated in a wildfire that killed 85 people and...
Regulators Waive $200M Fine on PG&E for Causing Deadly Fires
BERKELEY — State regulators on Thursday suspended a $200 million fine against Pacific Gas & Electric as punishment for the utility's neglect of electrical equipment that ignited a series of deadly wildfires in Northern California. The waiver approved in a unanimous vote by California's Public Utilities Commission will deprive the...
PG&E’s Top Exec Leaving Beleaguered Utility After 14 Months
BERKELEY — PG&E Corp. CEO Bill Johnson will step down from his job just 14 months after the nation's largest utility hired him to rescue it from a financial mess caused by a history of negligence and to change a corporate culture that emphasized profits over safety. Johnson's June 30...
Walters: PG&E Makes Two Deals to Survive
In any other week, major actions affecting Pacific Gas and Electric’s chances of emerging from bankruptcy as an intact and operational utility would have been big news. But with everyone in and out of government riveted on battling the COVID-19 pandemic, there was only proforma media attention to two big...
PG&E's Falling Stock Price Worries Fire Victims Eyeing Deal
BERKELEY — The stock market turmoil triggered by the coronavirus pandemic is raising worries that Pacific Gas & Electric's $13.5 billion settlement with victims of catastrophic wildfires may be worth far less by the time the beleaguered company emerges from bankruptcy. A lawyer who represents more than 81,000 wildfire victims...
PG&E to Plead Guilty to Lethal Crimes in 2018 Wildfires
SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric will plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for a swath of death and destruction left behind after its fraying electrical grid ignited the 2018 wildfire that destroyed three Northern California towns and drove the nation's largest utility into bankruptcy. The plea...