PG&E agrees to $1 billion payout to settle some fire claims
David Wagman | June 19, 2019Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) said it reached agreements to resolve wildfire claims held by 18 local public entities (cities, counties, districts and public agencies) impacted by the 2015 Butte Fire, 2017 Northern California wildfires and 2018 Camp Fire.
Under the agreements, $1 billion in payments will be made as part of a Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization to be filed in PG&E’s pending Chapter 11 case.
Participants in the mediation included 14 public entities with various claims from the 2015 Butte Fire, the 2017 North Bay Fires and the 2018 Camp Fire. PG&E and all 14 public entities accepted the proposals.
In late January, PG&E Corp. and its utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. The company said it faced an estimated $30 billion in potential liability for wildfires in 2017 and 2018.
In the proposed settlement with local governments, the Calaveras County Water District accepted $3 million to resolve claims resulting from the 2015 Butte Fire and Butte County accepted $252 million to resolve claims from the 2018 Camp Fire. The town of Paradise, California, is in Butte County and was largely destroyed by the fire.
“This is an important step towards stabilizing the county so we can continue to provide key services to residents,” said Butte County counsel Bruce Alpert. He called the settlement the "first step in a long process," and additional approvals need to happen before the county receives any money.
Transmission lines
In mid-May, California fire investigators said that the Camp Fire was caused by electrical transmission lines owned and operated by PG&E and located in the Pulga, California, area. The fire rapidly burned into Pulga to the east and west into Concow, Paradise, Magalia and to the outskirts of Chico.
In late February, PG&E said that its equipment likely was the ignition point for the Camp Fire. It said it based its statement on information previously reported to state utility regulators.
The utility received approval from state regulators to proactively turn off electric power to parts of its service territory when an extreme weather event could result in a fire.
In June, the utility shut off power to around 21,000 customers in parts of Butte and Yuba Counties due to extreme weather. Crews patrolled around 800 miles of overhead power lines, found instances of damage to de-energized equipment and made necessary repairs.
The 2018 Camp Fire burned a total of 153,336 acres, destroying 18,804 structures and resulting in 85 civilian fatalities and several firefighter injuries. The Camp Fire is the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history. Cal Fire said that during 2018 there were more than 7,571 wildfires that burned over 1.8 million acres within the state of California.
