PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), a utility giant, is being probed by a federal judge over a power line failure deemed to fail few minutes before a massive fire explosion in North California last month.
On October 23, the Kincade fire exploded in Sonoma County. This wildfire has destroyed approximately 450 structures and is still going on in the north of San Francisco. William Alsup, the U.S District federal judge, has requested answers from PG&E regarding their disclosure that one of their jumper cables had broken concerning the fire.
This comes after the company was charged in 2017 and 2018 with wildfires in parts of Northern California. Last year, the town of paradise in California was destroyed by a Campfire that was connected to a loose PG&E loose jumper cable. This incident killed 86 people. These incidents rendered the company into $30 billion liabilities, which later forced them to declare bankruptcy.
Regarding the recent occurrence, PG&E said that they would respond to the judge’s questions by November 29.
Planned Blackouts
PG&E has been taking preventive measures to avoid these fires, although they seem to keep occurring. Last month during the high winds, the company was forced to force darkness to millions of people to avoid such fire occurrences.
Of all the fires connected to PG&E, the Kincade fire is deemed to be the biggest.
Amongst the answers that Alsup is seeking is the confirmation of the number of deaths that were caused by PG &E’s faulty cables, despite the many backouts. Moreover, the judge enquired their clarification on whether the blackouts might have caused the fires, and not prevented them as thought.
The U.S Government and the state of California are trying to recover the huge costs incurred during the fires from PG&E amidst its bankruptcy case. The company’s recent filing indicated that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services compensations totaled to approximately $6 billion.
The utility giant is expected to respond to the judge’s request and provide precise answers to the public regarding the wildfires.
