As utility company PG&E could face billions of dollars in California wildfires claims, the power supplier has filed for bankruptcy protection.

PG&E has admitted its electrical lines were experiencing problems when the Camp Fire started on Nov. 8, 2018. The Camp Fire became the deadliest wildfire in California’s history, killing 85 people, burning down 14,000 homes and virtually wiping out the town of Paradise.

If PG&E is found responsible for the ignition of the Camp Fire, the number of total claims could be in the $30 billion range. Through bankruptcy, the power company could continue to operate and sell assets to obtain cash for settlements.

As a result, PG&E’s customers could see rate increases to help cover the cost of the losses from previous fires and in anticipation of future fire losses.

Forbes spoke with Hugh Wynne, an analyst from Sector Sovereign Research, who said PG&E could sell its electrical generators and transmitters to raise about $18 billion.

If PG&E customers foot the bill, they will pay twice the average annual electric bill they have been paying.

The California Public Utilities Commission is overseen by a consumer watchdog, the Public Advocates Office, which does not want customers to pay increased rates to pay for fire damage, particularly if PG&E is proven negligent.

PG&E went bankrupt in 2001 after being implicated in a power-trading scam, and as a result, customers allegedly ended up paying nearly $7 billion of PG&E’s $12 billion liability bill.

California Wildfires Lawsuits Allege Negligence

Customers who have suffered losses in the California wildfires blame PG&E for not better managing vegetation near the company’s electrical equipment and for not turning power completely off during particularly strong, sustained winds.

PG&E says that a month before the Camp Fire broke out, the company proposed spending $6 billion through 2023 to reduce the chance of catastrophic fires. PG&E told regulators that the following would help control the risks of wildfires:

• 600 HD cameras
• 1,300 weather stations
• “Enhanced vegetation management,” such as a 12-foot radial clearance around electrical poles
• Insulating or burying transmission lines
• Donating emergency backup battery supply systems to medical facilities with urgent power requirements

For those who lost loved ones and property in the Camp Fire, the proposal by PG&E comes way too late.

Several major insurance companies aren’t waiting for Cal Fire to declare PG&E responsible for the Camp Fire. Allstate Insurance Co., State Farm and USAA have already filed lawsuits against PG&E to recoup the billions of dollars in claims for losses they blame on PG&E.

In its filing, State Farm alleges PG&E failed “to keep the power lines, wires, and any and all associated equipment in a safe condition at all times to prevent fires.”

Merced Property & Casualty, a small insurance company based out of San Joaquin Valley, was itself forced into bankruptcy in December due to excessive Camp Fire wildfire claims.

Xavier Becerra, attorney general for California, has not ruled out prosecuting PG&E for murder in the Camp Fire disaster, pending the outcome of Cal Fire’s investigation.

Cal Fire recently determined that PG&E was not responsible for the ignition of the Tubbs Fire that killed 22 people in Santa Rosa in October 2017. That fire’s origins were traced to electrical equipment at a private home in Calistoga, a small community located 10 miles northeast of Santa Rosa.