PG&E Corp. is getting support from the U.S. Justice Department in its request to hold off on implementing stricter and potentially costly safety measures until they’re fully evaluated. U.S. District Judge William Alsup had ordered PG&E to hire, on its own payroll, an in-house team to spot-check the work of contractors who trim vegetation at risk… [Read More]
Officials: Email delays key vote on PG&E’s bankruptcy plan (via KCRA)
California power regulators unexpectedly delayed a key vote Thursday on Pacific Gas & Electric’s plan for getting out of bankruptcy after saying one of the utility’s most outspoken critics sent an improper email attacking the company’s proposal to pay wildfire victims. California Public Utilities Commission President Marybel Batjer was irked by the need to postpone… [Read More]
PG&E Restructuring: Here’s What’s Next (via Forbes)
Final certification isn’t until May 22. But preliminary voting results show a strong majority in favor of PG&E Corp’s (PCG) restructuring plan, allowing the California utility to exit the bankruptcy it entered in January 2019. The “in favor” column apparently includes victims of the 2018 Camp Fire. Under the state’s doctrine of “inverse condemnation,” PG&E is insurer… [Read More]
PG&E’s Plan to Mitigate Blackouts This Wildfire Season: Lots More Diesel Generators (via GreentechMedia)
Pacific Gas & Electric is turning to a decidedly low-tech solution to keep its customers’ lights on for this year’s coming fire season: mobile diesel generators. The bankrupt utility is struggling to secure its grid from causing more deadly wildfires and has been stymied in attempts to set up natural-gas-backed microgrids to power substations during fire-prevention blackouts. But California regulators are adamant that… [Read More]
Sequestered for Grid Security, Part 2: PG&E Operators
During times of crisis, access to safe and reliable power is more important than ever. In the second installment of this series, meet some of the IBEW 1245 members who have been voluntarily sequestered on the job to maintain and manage grid operations during the COVID 19 crisis. Read the first installment here. On April… [Read More]
PG&E appeals new probation conditions, asserting they’ll ‘undermine wildfire safety’ (via UtilityDive)
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is appealing a new set of wildfire mitigation requirements imposed by a federal judge, arguing that the conditions would cause the utility irreparable harm and “are more likely to undermine wildfire safety” than they are to promote it. U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who is supervising PG&E’s five-year criminal probation,… [Read More]
California wildfire victims approve $13.5 billion payout by ‘overwhelming’ margin, PG&E says (via Sacramento Bee)
PG&E Corp. said Monday it believes thousands of Northern California wildfire victims have approved the utility’s $13.5 billion payout plan, clearing the way for PG&E to emerge from bankruptcy. In a prepared statement, the company said that, based on preliminary results, the plan has won “overwhelming acceptance” from the approximately 70,000 victims who were eligible to vote…. [Read More]
Letter Agreement 20-32: GCC Extension to Temporary Work Schedule (Extension of LA 20-21)
The Company and Union discussed the need to continue the temporary work schedule at the Vacaville and Rocklin Grid Control Centers and have agreed to extend the expiration date of Letter Agreement 20-21, under the same terms and conditions, to June 27, 2020. Either Company or Union may cancel this agreement by giving the other… [Read More]
PG&E bankruptcy judge weighs concerns about fire victims’ lawyer (via SF Chronicle)
A 2017 wildfire survivor sought to persuade PG&E Corp.’s bankruptcy judge on Tuesday to make a key attorney in the case provide a better disclosure about his ties to Wall Street financiers. San Antonio lawyer Mikal Watts, who represents thousands of fire victims, has admitted that two financial firms connected to the PG&E bankruptcy also had… [Read More]
Regulators waive $200 million fine PG&E was supposed to pay for causing deadly NorCal wildfires (via KTLA)
California regulators on Thursday suspended a $200 million fine against Pacific Gas & Electric as punishment for the utility’s neglect of electrical equipment that ignited a series of deadly wildfires in Northern California. The waiver approved in a unanimous vote by California’s Public Utilities Commission will deprive the state coffers of money to help offset… [Read More]