PG&E cut off power on Sept 23. to seven Northern California counties, in an attempt to lower the state’s risk for wildfires. The power outage affected around 48,200 customers in Northern California.

Unfortunately, experts anticipate that this year’s wildfire season will be worse than the past two devastating seasons.

The Los Angeles Times reported this summer that there was a high rainfall last winter, which led to significant vegetation growth. Followed by a dry summer with high winds, experts reported that the risk for wildfires would be more severe than it was in 2017 and 2018.

Now, PG&E is attempting to respond to those conditions and limit risks for wildfires. CNN explains that the power company chose to turn off power because Monday was supposed to be particularly windy and dry. Power was off from Monday morning to Tuesday at around 6 pm, when weather conditions posed less of a risk, says CNN. 

Liable for Fire 

Pacific Gas and Electric fire liability is not a new problem, but this power outage is a new approach for prevention.

PG&E’s stake in California wildfires didn’t start this year. In 2017 and 2018, fingers were pointed at possible Pacific Gas and Electric Fire liability, blaming the company at least in part for the large fires that ravaged the state.

The company was found responsible for the 2018 Camp Fire by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Allegedly, PG&E’s electrical lines started the fire, which killed over 88 people and damaged thousands of structures. The California Department of Insurance report stated that of the structures destroyed, 14,600 of them were housing structures and 530 were commercial. 

Similar conditions to those that raised concern on Monday were at the root of Camp Fire’s devastation, says CAL Fire — “the tinder dry vegetation and Red Flag conditions consisting of strong winds, low humidity, and warm temperatures promoted this fire and caused extreme rates of spread, rapidly burning” through the state.

PG&E has faced blame for numerous 2017 fires, as well. Reportedly, the company paid $1 billion in damages to local CA, after the governments claimed that the company’s equipment caused fires that year. In fact, PG&E is still wrestling with claims from 2017.

CNN says that PG&E reached an $11 billion settlement with insurance companies for damages done by fires both in 2017 and 2018. The news organization noted that the company has stated that its equipment is a “probable” cause of the Camp Fire. The company estimated in April that $7 billion in claims had been made over damages linked to the Camp Fire.

Insurance Journal noted that, according to reinsurance company Munich Re, the Camp Fire was 2018’s most expensive natural disaster, on a global scale. 

The fires, and the Pacific Gas and Electric fire liability claims that come with them, have taken their toll on the company — Fortune reported that the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, listing over $50 billion in liabilities from not only the Camp Fire, but the many other wild fires that raged through California in the last several years. 

SoCal Edison has already been hit with Thomas Fire lawsuits.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.