A Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge wants PG&E to pay a lot more in penalties than the company agreed to in a California fires settlement.

Administrative Law Judge Sophia Park reportedly said the record $1.675 billion penalty is not enough for the damage caused by fires in 2017 and 2018, which include the Camp Fire that burned the town of Paradise to the ground and several other fires that wiped out much of Northern California’s wine country. On Feb. 27, she proposed a penalty of $2.137 billion to PG&E, and explained why, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Park said even though the original penalty was reached through negotiations between PG&E and Public Utilities Commission staff members, PG&E was going to make its shareholders take on the “wildfire-related costs” to save ratepayers from footing the bill. Park’s newly proposed penalty includes a $200 million fine that must be paid to California’s general fund.

Park also noted in writing that PG&E shareholders would be prohibited from using the estimated $500 million tax break that instead would “applied to the benefit of PG&E’s customers.”

PG&E has reportedly agreed to pay more than $25 billion in wildfire claims to exit bankruptcy. Park said that alone is reason to believe the company can and should pay a greater penalty to the state because of the utility’s role in the California fires.

PG&E’s equipment allegedly helped instigate 2017 fires in Butte, Calaveras, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Sonoma and Yuba Counties, plus 2018’s Camp Fire that killed 85 people.

District Judge William Alsup, who is overseeing PG&E’s five-year criminal probation, has told the utility company it has failed at vegetation management and must hire more tree trimmers to tackle overgrowth around power lines. The judge also has demanded why rusty C-hooks that apparently were discovered as far back as 1987 were left in place. A worn C-hook broke off a tower in on a power line Butte County in November 2018, sparking the Camp Fire.

The C-hooks were designed to hold 30,000 pounds, but in 1987, two C-hooks on a Contra Costa County transmission line broke with just 11,500 pounds of pressure, according to the study. Another C-hook that did not appear rusty or worn was unable to hold more than 6,900 pounds.

PG&E has denied knowing the C-hooks were an issue, but also admitted not tracking how many years each C-hook or related equipment had been in the field.

California Fires Prompt State to Prepare Takeover Plan

The state of California has reportedly proposed changes of its own to PG&E’s reorganization. Gov. Gavin Newsom prompted Public Utilities Commission President Marybel Batjer to propose a process that could allow the revocation of PG&E’s operating license in the event the company is found guilty of serious safety violations and fails to fix the problems in a timely and complete manner.

Batjer released a statement, saying, “Investor-owned utilities have an enormous privilege in serving as a unique provider of essential services to the public — and with that privilege comes great responsibility to those they serve. I am very concerned about PG&E’s pattern of safety-related failures.”

Newsom has asked PG&E to replace its entire board of directors and include an option for the state of California to take charge of the utility in the event of a future catastrophe.

PG&E, which also has been hit by California wildfire class action lawsuits, faces a June 30 deadline to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

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