Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett announced 31 charges, including 11 felonies, against the company.
California's largest utility provider was charged with manslaughter after its equipment sparked a wildfire in Northern California last year, the Associated Press reported.
The Shasta County District Attorney issued 31 charges, including 11 felonies, against Pacific Gas and Electric after it deemed the company"criminally liable" for the Zogg Fire that killed four people and burned about 200 homes near Redding in 2020. State investigators determined that the fire started when a gray pine tree fell onto a PG&E transmission line. Shasta and Tehama counties sued the utility company for negligence, alleging PG&E failed to remove the tree even though it had been marked for removal two years earlier.A house burns on Platina Road during the Zogg Fire near Ono, California, on September 27, 2020.
Company officials have acknowledged that PG&E hasn't lived up to expectations in the past but said changes in leadership and elsewhere ensure it's on the right track and will do better. They have listed a wide range of improvements that include using more advanced technology to avoid setting wildfires and help detect them quicker.
PG&E also remains on criminal probation for a 2010 pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area city of San Bruno that killed eight people, giving a federal judge oversight of the company. The judge and California power regulators have rebuked PG&E for breaking promises to reduce the dangers posed by trees near its power lines.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Coroner: Body Found In LaSalle County Is Jelani DayA body discovered 3 weeks ago near Peru, Illinois, has been identified as that of missing Illinois State University grad student Jelani Day, authorities say. The FBI is now investigating the case. (wgltnews)
Read more »
Draft report from partisan Arizona review confirms Biden defeated Trump in Maricopa County last NovemberThe partisan review of Maricopa County's 2.1 million ballots cast in the 2020 election found a vote count nearly identical to what the county had previously reported, a draft report detailing its findings shows.
Read more »
Maricopa County: Draft of Cyber Ninjas election review says Biden wonA Republican-led effort to check the results of the 2020 election has been seen as a messy effort to re-litigate President Joe Biden's win.
Read more »
Gregg County Texas Sheriff Office Was Locked Out Of Its Facebook PageThe Gregg County Sheriff's Office has gone from some 18,000 likes and upwards of 20,000 followers to zero!
Read more »
'We've been completely plowed over': Residents of tiny San Diego County town sue to stop 600-acre solar projectThe project's opponents hire law firm that fought to block the Keystone XL pipeline.
Read more »