Controversies

Company response

• Denial — PG&E

  PG&E said in the settlement that it "specifically and expressly denies any fault, negligence, imprudence, or violation with respect to the Mosquito Fire."

• Clarification — PG&E

  PG&E released the following statement in response to the settlement: "We share the California Public Utilities Commission’s commitment to improving safety. PG&E remains focused on reducing wildfire risk to protect our customers and communities. While no official cause of the Mosquito Fire has been determined, settling this matter now will allow us to keep focusing our time, resources, and efforts on continuing to make our system safer throughout California."

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• Pacific Gas & Electric Company has been fined $22 million as part of a settlement over the Mosquito Fire, which destroyed 78 structures and burned nearly 77,000 acres in Placer County in 2022.

• Still, the California Public Utilities Commission found violations in PG&E's design, construction, and maintenance of electrical lines.

• The CPUC approved the penalty, with $21 million in shareholder funds going to the state's general fund and $1 million allocated to fund an independent review of PG&E's "Transmission Centralized Inspection Review Team."

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• In a release, the CPUC said it is fining PG&E $106 million for violating guidelines during the utility giant's planned power shutoffs in the fall of 2019.

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• Under the deal entered Monday, PG&E will fund a study on how to remove or mitigate contamination from an underground storage tank on the former site of its North Beach gas plant, which stopped operating after it was damaged in the Great Earthquake of 1906.

• The agreement represents the third and final settlement reached in a lawsuit filed in 2014 over pollution from manufactured gas plants operated by PG&E in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

• For homeowners, small businesses and nonprofits, PG&E will cover the cost of soil testing, soil removal and replacing contaminated soil with clean dirt.

Company response

• Investigation — PG&E

  Immediately after this event, we engaged an independent third-party to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident, PG&E’s response, as well as a review of company records and applicable standards for the gas facilities.

• Remediation — PG&E

  This included seven corrective actions, which have all been implemented.

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• Utility Pacific Gas & Electric was SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - cited and fined $900,000 for pipeline violations spanning more than 14 years, ultimately causing a 2017 gas explosion in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.

• A newly released investigation by the California Public Utilities Commission found PG&E failed to properly abandon a service line, remove a plug and seal that gas line back in 2003.

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• Pacific Gas & Electric was fined $4million for the deaths of 84 people in the 2018 Camp Fire sparked by its electrical grid.

• “On behalf of everyone at PG&E, I am truly sorry for the terrible loss of life and the physical and emotional damage resulting from the fire,"

• (AP) -- Pacific Gas & Electric on Thursday was fined $4 million for the deaths of 84 people killed in a nightmarish Northern California wildfire ignited by the its long-neglected electrical grid.

Company response

• Apology — PG&E

  “On behalf of everyone at PG&E, I am truly sorry for the terrible loss of life and the physical and emotional damage resulting from the fire,” said a PG&E board member, Bill Smith, who will replace Johnson as the company’s interim CEO June 30.

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• Pacific Gas & Electric on Thursday was fined $4 million for the deaths of 84 people killed in a nightmarish Northern California wildfire ignited by the its long-neglected electrical grid.

• The maximum penalty assessed by Butte County Superior Court Judge Michael Deems was a mere formality, given that PG&E reached a plea agreement three months ago to resolve manslaughter and other charges.

• “On behalf of everyone at PG&E, I am truly sorry for the terrible loss of life and the physical and emotional damage resulting from the fire,” said a PG&E board member, Bill Smith, who will replace Johnson as the company’s interim CEO June 30.

Company response

• Clarification — Pacific Gas & Electric

  Pacific Gas & Electric CEO Bill Johnson said in letter to state regulators that one area that needs significant improvement is communication with customers.

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• The utility is under fire for the way it handled the shutoffs starting Oct. 9 to more than 2 million people throughout northern and central California. Its website crashed frequently, leaving customers unable to find critical information.

• California’s largest utility pledged Thursday to improve communications.

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• The settlement is still subject to a number of conditions involving PG&E’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plans, which must be completed by June 30, 2020.

• Pacific Gas and Electric announced Friday it has reached a tentative $13.5 billion settlement resolving all major claims related to the deadly, devastating Northern California wildfires of 2017-2018 that were blamed on its outdated equipment and negligence.

• Pacific Gas & Electric Co. announced a $13.5 billion settlement late Friday with Northern California victims who suffered enormous losses in the 2017 and 2018 wildfires, some of the most devastating in U.S. history.

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• Faced with customer anger, PG&E put up barricades around its San Francisco headquarters.

• Newsom said PG&E should have been working on making its power system sturdier and more weatherproof.

• Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized Pacific Gas & Electric, and ordinary customers complained about the inconveniences caused by the unprecedented blackouts that began Wednesday, with many wondering: Has PG&E gone too far in its attempt to ward off another deadly fire season?