Pacific Gas & Electric agrees to pay more than $55M to avoid criminal prosecution for two major wildfires sparked by aging power lines.
after it was convicted of misconduct that contributed to a natural gas explosion that killed eight people in 2010.
All told, PG&E has been blamed for more than 30 wildfires since 2017 that wiped out more than 23,000 homes and businesses and killed more than 100 people.raising worries from the federal judge who tried to force the utility to reduce fire risks by requiring more maintenance and reporting. U.S. District Judge William Alsup warned that PG&E remained a “continuing menace to California” and urged state prosecutors to try to rein in the company, which provides power to 16 million people.
As part of their settlement, Sonoma County prosecutors agreed to drop 33 criminal charges filed last year that accused PG&E of inadvertently injuring six firefighters and endangering public health with smoke and ash from the Kincade Fire, which began in October 2019. Ravitch said state laws that limit punishment against a corporation to probation and fines helped motivate the settlement. She said if PG&E had been successfully prosecuted in the Sonoma County case it would have paid a fine of just $9.4 million, most of which would have gone to the state.
“We are committed to doing our part, and we look forward to a long partnership with these communities to make it right and make it safe,” Poppe said.
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