Federal judge: Wildfires show PG&E violated probation terms

Jan. 30--SAN FRANCISCO -- A day after PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection from what could be multi-billion dollar wildfire liability costs, a federal judge Wednesday declared the beleaguered utility in violation of its probation for the 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion.

"Does a judge turn a blind eye and let PG&E continue what you're doing, let you keep killing people?" U.S. District Judge William Alsup said during a Wednesday court hearing. "Can't we have electricity that is delivered safely in this state?"

The finding sets the stage for the judge to add additional and costly terms to Pacific Gas & Electric's criminal probation for the deadly pipeline blast -- requirements the utility says could cost billions of dollars and lead to customer rates raising five-fold.

Alsup, who is monitoring the utility's federal probation following its conviction in the deadly pipeline case, has warned that he's contemplating beefing up terms including a thorough inspection of the company's electricity grid and a wide-ranging vegetation management plan ahead of the upcoming Northern California fire season. PG&E wrote in a court filing that such a move would necessitate a $75 billion to $150 billion investment and the hiring of 650,000 workers for the company that has claimed it's insolvent due to significant wildfire liabilities in the last two years.

On Tuesday, San Francisco-based PG&E filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, listing $51.7 billion in debts and $71.4 billion in assets, according to the filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Northern California. Alsup could further complicate the company's financial hole depending on how he rules.

Since the deadly Camp Fire in November, Alsup has ordered PG&E to produce records explaining its role in wildfires linked to the company dating back to the 2017 fire season. State fire investigators have determined the company's equipment caused 17 of the infernos in the North Bay Wine Country and nearby regions in 2017. Cal Fire also continues to investigate if a failure of PG&E equipment sparked the Camp Fire in Butte County, the deadliest and most destructive in state history, where 86 people perished.

Last week, Cal Fire cleared PG&E in the Tubbs Fire, determining the destructive Oct. 8, 2017 blaze in Sonoma County was sparked by private electrical equipment. That fire killed 22 people.

The state fire agency submitted a court brief Monday, at the request of the judge, detailing how PG&E's fires can be more dangerous than other types of fires "because they often ignite in rural or remote locations with limited fire suppression access that are populated with dry fuels." It details the three main utility-caused fires: vegetation/power line contact, equipment malfunction and conductor failures.

Tom Dalzell, business manager of Local 1245, which represents 20,000 Northern California workers, including PG&E linemen and tree-trimmers, also testified in a court brief that implementing the widespread inspection programs would be impossible by the next fire season.

Dalzell called the proposals "impractical to the point of impossible and costly to the point of impossible."

In late 2018, Dalzell said PG&E hired about 600 linemen from across the nation to inspect and repair a small portion of its system, about 50,000 transmission structures in high fire danger areas. The company had to pay the workers $15,000 a week, equating to a $9 million per week.

The California Public Utilities Commission also submitted a court filing asking the judge to leave decisions regarding the electrical grid system inspection, vegetation maintenance and rules over preemptive power shutdowns to the regulatory agency. The CPUC particularly focused on the judge's proposal of forbidding electricity to run through fire-prone areas, under extreme weather conditions, if the areas have not been inspected before the fire season.

The CPUC stressed the importance of keeping electricity flowing for vulnerable communities, first responders and even cell service. The agency said that during a preemptive October 2018 power shutdown ahead of dangerous weather, 67 cell tower sites lost power for as long as four to 40 hours, preventing residents from having access to cell phone communication.

The counties of Napa and Sonoma, hard hit by the 2017 wildfires, wrote that they too had concerns over the judge's proposed changes to the terms of PG&E's probation, particularly the possible clearcutting of trees and burdensome power shutdowns that could impact public safety. One El Dorado County community said the power interruption in October turned off street lights during the community's main escape route, creating a new danger.

The court hearing begins at 9 a.m. Wednesday in San Francisco federal court.

Check back for updates.

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