On Tuesday, about two dozen victims from the Northern California town of Paradise, which was destroyed in last week’s deadly Camp Fire, filed suit against Pacific Gas and Electric Co (PG&E) alleging that the company’s lax maintenance and “inexcusable behavior” contributed to the cause of the blaze.

“Most of [the victims] are aware of PG&E’s history of starting wildfires and trying to get away with it,” Mike Danko, a lawyer from one of the three law firms representing the wildfire victims, told Grist. “They want their voice to be heard.”

The victims of the fire who are now suing PG&E lost their homes and possessions, many barely escaping with their lives. The Camp Fire — the deadliest wildfire in California’s history — has already claimed the lives of at least 56 people, with 130 still missing as of Thursday morning.

PG&E and another major utility, Southern California Edison, reported to regulators they experienced problems with transmission lines around the time the blazes started On top of that, just prior to the Camp Fire, PG&E began warning customers it might turn off power because of the high risk of wildfires. But the company ultimately decided to cancel the anti-fire measure, according to a press release:

“Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has determined that it will not proceed with plans today for a Public Safety Power Shutoff in portions of eight Northern California counties, as weather conditions did not warrant this safety measure,” reads the statement published November 8 — the same day the Camp Fire began.

The cause of the Camp Fire has yet to be determined — something PG&E officials are quick to point out. “Right now, our primary focus is on the communities, supporting first responders and getting our crews positioned and ready to respond when we get access so that we can safely restore gas and electricity to our customers,” the company said in a statement.

Danko calls PG&E’s comment “empty words.” This is not the first time the utility has been accused of being responsible for a major wildfire. In 2017, Cal Fire concluded that PG&E broke safety laws — namely, poor maintenance of trees along power lines — which led to a wildfire that took the lives of 22 people.

The new suit cites 18 separate fires and explosions caused by PG&E infrastructure since 1991, including a 2010 explosion at a PG&E natural gas pipeline that killed eight people and led to a fine to the tune of $1.6 billion from state regulators and a felony conviction issued by a jury in federal court.

If PG&E is found liable for the Camp Fire, the company’s payout could exceed its insurance coverage. This could spell financial trouble, not only for PG&E but for California customers. In September, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill designed to help PG&E cope with the fire-related costs of 2017’s wildfires by allowing the utility to pass on some of those costs on to their customers — including those who lost their homes to the wildfires.

The bill was met with swift opposition by consumer advocates who saw the bill as a bailout for a company with a damming record of lax safety oversights. “We don’t think this is safety for Main Street — we think this is safety for Wall Street,” said Mindy Spatt, a spokesperson for The Utility Reform Network consumer group. “We urged the Legislature to do something that would protect consumers and residents, but this wasn’t it.” </s> Nov 14 (Reuters) - A group of three law firms has filed lawsuit against PG&E Corp alleging negligence and health and safety code violations by the utility company in California’s deadliest ever wildfire and seeking damages for victims of the fire.

The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 13 in the San Francisco County Superior Court by the law firms, which collectively call themselves Northern California Fire Lawyers. PG&E did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting By Nick Carey) </s> Nov 14 (Reuters) - A group of three law firms has filed a lawsuit against PG&E Corp alleging negligence and health and safety code violations by the utility company in California’s deadliest wildfire that has killed at least 48 people, seeking damages for multiple victims.

The “Camp Fire,” which began last Thursday, has all but wiped out the Sierra foothills town of Paradise in Butte County, about 175 miles (280 km) north of San Francisco, that was overrun by flames and largely incinerated.

Searchers looking for the remains of victims in the charred ruins of Paradise were set to expand their operation on Wednesday as firefighters stepped up efforts to contain the blaze.

The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 13 in San Francisco County Superior Court by the law firms, which collectively call themselves Northern California Fire Lawyers.

PG&E did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Nick Carey in Detroit; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) </s> Victims of California's deadliest wildfire have filed a lawsuit against PG&E Corp alleging negligence and health and safety code violations by the utility company in the blaze that has killed at least 56 people. </s> Pacific Gas and Electric has filed for bankruptcy protection after coming under pressure from billions of dollars in claims tied to deadly wildfires.

California’s largest power company said in a statement Tuesday that it had submitted a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the Northern District of California.

PG&E said it was committed to maintaining services for customers during the bankruptcy process.

John Simon, the company’s Interim CEO, said he would work “to create a more sustainable foundation for the delivery of safe, reliable and affordable service.”

“We have heard the calls for change and we are determined to take action throughout this process to build the energy system our customers want and deserve,” he said in the statement.

PG&E has been linked to a series of wildfires in California, including the Camp Fire, which caused 86 deaths and destroyed 14,000 homes, along with more than 500 businesses and 4,300 other buildings.

PG&E announced on January 14 that it intended to file for bankruptcy, but it had to wait 15-day period required by California law.

The company needs to use the bankruptcy process — which will allow it to shed some of its debt — to pay for damages and stay in business.

PG&E said Tuesday it was seeking approval for a $5.5 billion debtor-in-possession financing agreement. Previously, it said in a filing that it has only about $1.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents on hand.

The company has cited at least $7 billion in claims from the Camp Fire. It is believed that the Camp Fire was started when a PG&E power line came in contact with nearby trees.

PG&E reported “an outage” on a transmission line in the area where the blaze began, about 15 minutes before it started. Within the massive burn area, PG&E found power equipment and a fallen power pole riddled with bullet holes, according to a letter it sent to regulators. The company also reported that it found a downed line with tree branches on it.

In addition, a series of wildfires in 2017 — many of which were also blamed on PG&E — caused $10 billion in damages and 44 deaths. In 11 of those fires, state investigators found the company violated codes regarding brush clearance near its power lines or had made related violations. </s> BUTTE COUNTY (KRON) - A lawsuit has been filed Tuesday against PG&E on on behalf of victims impacted by the Camp Fire that devastated Butte County.

The lawsuit alleges that PG&E failed to maintain it's equipment resulting in the deadly fire.

The fire has destroyed 7,102 structures, threatened 15,500 structures, and left 150,000 people without a home.

The victims suffered injuries and lost their homes and businesses in the fire, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that PG&E has a long history of "safety lapses that caused injury and death to California residents, and destroyed or damaged their property" citing the 2010 San Bruno gas explosion, 2017 North Bay Fires and other incidents.

A day before the fire destroyed the county, PG&E got in touch with Betsy Ann Cowley, saying they needed access to her property because their power lines were causing sparks.

PG&E has provided an “initial electric incident report” with state regulators and will fully cooperate with any investigations.

Publicly, PG&E said it experienced a problem on an electrical transmission line near the site of the massive fire, minutes before the blaze broke out.

The cause of the Camp Fire is still under investigation, according to CAL Fire.

On Tuesday evening, Paul Doherty with PG&E responded in reference to the emails talking about the sparks and PG&E infrastructure related to the Camp Fire:

"Based on our initial review, the email correspondence with the customer in question was about future planned work on a different transmission line in the area. That line had previously been deenergized and was not operational when the Camp Fire started. We have not seen anything that includes a discussion with the customer in question about “sparks” and PG&E infrastructure. This is not the same line that PG&E identified in its Electric Incident Report on November 8, 2018."

WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON: </s> PG&E (PCG ) plunges again after disclosing that its insurance would not cover its cost if the company is found responsible for the Camp Fire in northern California, which has now killed 48 people and destroyed 7,600 homes and other structures.

"With these borrowings, the entire credit facility has been drawn and PG&E now has $3.5B of cash on its balance sheet," Citi analyst Praful Mehta writes. "We think the primary driver could be concern around a downgrade to a non-investment grade credit rating and the liquidity requirements as a result of the downgrade."

A group of three law firms has filed a lawsuit against the company - no doubt the first of many - alleging negligence and health and safety code violations.

Edison International (EIX ), dealing with the impact of fires in southern California, is little changed so far today. </s> (Reuters) - Victims of California’s deadliest wildfire have filed a lawsuit against PG&E; Corp (PCG.N) alleging negligence and health and safety code violations by the utility company in the blaze that has killed at least 48 people.

The lawsuit seeking damages against California’s largest public utility was filed on Tuesday in San Francisco County Superior Court by three law firms, which refer to themselves as Northern California Fire Lawyers.

“It’s important to remember that the cause (of the “Camp Fire”) has yet to be determined,” PG&E; said in a statement. “Right now, our primary focus is on the communities, supporting first responders and getting our crews positioned and ready to respond when we get access, so that we can safely restore gas and electricity to our customers.”

The Camp Fire, which began last Thursday, has all but wiped out the Sierra foothills town of Paradise in Butte County, about 175 miles (280 km) north of San Francisco, that was overrun by flames and largely incinerated.

But both PG&E; and Southern California Edison (EIX.N) have reported to regulators that they experienced problems with transmission lines or substations in areas around the time the blazes were first reported.

The lawsuit alleged that PG&E; failed to properly maintain, repair and replace its equipment and that “its inexcusable behavior contributed to the cause of the ‘Camp Fire.’”

The lawsuit alleges that prior to the Camp Fire, PG&E; began warning customers it might turn off power because of the high risk of wildfires.

“Despite its own recognition of these impending hazardous conditions, on the day of the Camp Fire’s ignition, PG&E; ultimately made the decision not to proceed with its plans for a power shutoff,” the lawsuit stated.

Last month PG&E; cut off electric power to about 60,000 customers to prevent wildfires as high winds threatened to topple trees and power lines.

Searchers looking for the remains of victims in the charred ruins of Paradise were set to expand their operation on Wednesday as firefighters stepped up efforts to contain the blaze.

The origins of the “Camp Fire” and the “Woolsey Fire” that has ravaged parts of southern California are still under investigation.

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey told KRCR television on Wednesday that attributing the fire to PG&E; at this point was “speculative.”

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But he added that officials from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) arrived in the area immediately after the fire began to ensure that any equipment or other evidence would be preserved for an investigation.

PG&E; stock slid 21.8 percent to close at $25.59.

PG&E;’s bonds have weakened broadly after the California electric utility said late Tuesday it had borrowed more than $3 billion from its credit facilities. It also warned it might face liabilities stemming from the Camp Fire that could exceed its insurance coverage. </s> Recently the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s profits took a significant hit because of it's alleged role in causing Californian wildfires and the company’s associated decision to file for bankruptcy protection. Net profits fell by 69 percent to $136 million, down from $442 million a year earlier.The company also owes billions to other companies for power services. In relation to these contracts, PG&E has been unable to reach a deal with NextEra Energy Inc. and other firms. This relates to a jurisdictional dispute over the PG&E's ability to walk away from or amend these agreements, and whether these should be heard by the bankruptcy court (which PG&E favor) or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (which NextEra Energy favors).The impact upon the company and the businesses and households it serves is considerable. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to most of the northern two-thirds of California. This amounts to 5.2 million households The current issues affecting the company date to In November 2018 when PG&E was sued in the San Francisco County Superior Court by multiple victims of the Camp Fire, which is the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. The fire caused at least 85 civilian fatalities Investigations suggest that PG&E powerline failures during high winds caused the fire. The powerlines had various issues relating to their maintenance and one charge leveled at PG&E is that they did not switched off the powerlines good time under conditions of high winds.Currently the cause of the fire is still under investigation. However, PG&E have acknowledged that they sent an "electric incident report" to the California Public Utilities Commission indicating a power failure on a transmission line on November 8, some 15 minutes before the fire was first reported close to the location where the fire began . Due to its likely liability, in January 2019 PG&E began the process of filing for bankruptcy As part of the bankruptcy process PG&E Corp has attempted to reach deals with those companies that it owes considerable sums of money to, like NextEra Energy Inc. These attempts at settlements, which amount to billions of dollars, have not been successful. This means, within the next few weeks, this matter will now be decided by the judge overseeing PG&E’s bankruptcy case. The case is set to continue.
A lawsuit is filed against Pacific Gas and Electric Company, alleging company negligence and health and safety code violations in the Camp Fire, which has killed at least 48 people.