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...
Charles Schwab Buys TD Ameritrade in Brokerage Blockbuster
NEW YORK — Charles Schwab is buying rival TD Ameritrade in a $26 billion stock swap, a blockbuster agreement accelerated by massive disruption in the online brokerage industry. Competitive pressure has already forced brokerages to make it free for customers to trade U.S. stocks online, and Schwab’s buyout combines two...
California Halts Fracking Permits in Oil Producer Crackdown
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom cracked down on oil producers Tuesday, halting approval of hundreds of fracking permits until independent scientists can review them and temporarily banning another drilling method that regulators believe is linked to one of the largest spills in state history. Listen to this article: The state...
State Regulators Launch Investigation into Power Outages
SAN FRANCISCO — California regulators opened a formal investigation Wednesday into preemptive power outages that blacked out large parts of the state in October, drawing strong rebukes from public officials and residents who said the shut-offs were too broad and poorly executed. The unanimous vote by the California Public Utilities...
Zuckerberg Appears in Congress as Facebook Faces Scrutiny
WASHINGTON — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg endured hours of prickly questioning from lawmakers Wednesday as he defended the company’s new globally ambitious project to create a digital currency while also dealing with widening scrutiny from U.S. regulators. The immediate focus of the hearing by the House Financial Services Committee was...
Chevron Fined $2.7M for Kern County Oil Leaks
BAKERSFIELD — California regulators have fined Chevron $2.7 million for violations at a facility in Kern County where there have been multiple oil leaks. The Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources said Wednesday that Chevron illegally allowed uncontrolled oil releases at Cymric Oil Field. The seepage...
Mercury Insurance Agrees to Pay California a Record $41M
SACRAMENTO — Mercury Insurance Co. is ending its two-decade battle with California regulators over extra fees charged to customers by agreeing to pay the state more than $41 million, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said Wednesday. He said it’s the largest property and casualty penalty and interest payment in the...
California Promises Fight to Keep Auto Emission Authority
SACRAMENTO — Preparing for a lengthy legal battle with the Trump administration about how much pollution to allow from cars, California regulators on Thursday said they were considering cracking down on other emissions to make up for any impacts on air quality. The Trump administration on Thursday officially revoked California's...
Justice Department OKs T-Mobile's $26.5B Sprint Deal
WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators are approving T-Mobile's $26.5 billion takeover of rival Sprint, despite fears of higher prices and job cuts. Friday's approval by the Justice Department and five state attorneys general comes after Sprint and T-Mobile agreed to conditions that would set up satellite-TV provider Dish as a fourth...
Are California Utilities Doing Enough to Fireproof Equipment?
With much fanfare and no less hand-wringing, state regulators approved plans that for the first time set out how California’s electric utilities intend to prevent their equipment from sparking wildfires. But the plans provide scant details, and little evidence to support the companies’ claims that indiscriminately clear-cutting millions of trees and replacing...