Wildfire is damaging the environment and PF&E is being held responsible. Losing its fight over the fire policy has now led the large California public utility to its bankruptcy.
PG&E has a faulty electrical grid which has been the cause of severe fire occurrences in various parts of California. This has been the cause of fire and deaths in these areas. Thousands of homes have been destroyed. This has raised its legal liabilities to around $20 billion to $ 30 billion.
PG&E has filed for bankruptcy, caused by severe liability due to the damages.
The company has been exposed to civil lawsuits, claiming that it has neglected to maintain its electric lines. During times of high wind and rain, it is forced to enact through rolling blackouts in these areas, as the electric lines are prone to snap.
Another complaint facing this public utility is its lack of planning on its outages. It is said that the blackouts may last a decade in order to reduce fire risks.
The wildfire liabilities have pushed PG&E into bankruptcy. Its last CEO Geisha Williams has been ousted by the failure of the public utility to curb fires.
Judge Dennis Montali, the U.S. Bankruptcy Judge has been on the side of wildfire victims. He says that the public utility is subject to inverse condemnation, by which the utility is liable to cover the cost of the blaze that is linked to the faulty equipment and negligence in its operations.
However, PH&E claims that inverse condemnation is making it go bankrupt. It argues that it is owned by investors and not by taxpayers and should not be subject to the inverse condemnation rule.
The large utility has now filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It has paid around $30 billion, as it was held liable for the wildfires caused by the power lines in 2017 and 20128.