Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today released the following
statement regarding California Senate Bill 819.
While there has been no determination on the causes of the Northern
California wildfires that took place in October, it is clear that
California needs much broader reforms that recognize the mutual
interests of customers, utilities, investors, insurers and others as we
work together to address the impacts of climate change including more
frequent and more damaging wildfires. California is one of the only
states in the country where the courts have applied inverse condemnation
liability to events caused by a privately owned utility’s equipment.
This means that if a utility’s equipment is found to have been a
substantial cause of the damage in the event like a wildfire – even if
the utility has followed established inspection and safety rules – the
utility may be liable for property damages and attorneys’ fees
associated with that event. Allowing essentially unlimited liability
undermines the financial health of the state’s utilities, discourages
investment in California and has the potential to materially impact the
ability of utilities to access the capital markets to fund utility
operations. All of these are bad for customers and bad for the state of
California. And, at a time when California is asking privately owned
utilities to invest billions of dollars to meet the state’s greenhouse
gas reduction goals, these risks pose real consequences for the state’s
environment, economy and communities.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas
and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San
Francisco, with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of
the nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and
Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/
and pge.com/news.
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Copyright Business Wire 2018
Source: Business Wire
(January 3, 2018 - 5:34 PM EST)
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