Utility company PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) will pay $55 million to avoid prosecution for two major California wildfires.
Last year’s Dixie fire, which became one of the largest in state history, and the Kincade fire of 2019 were sparked by the company’s aging power lines.
PG& will not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlements that are causing financial harm to hundreds of homeowners who have lost their property.
PG&E will also be overseen by an independent monitor for five years, similar to the oversight it faced during the five-year probation period after the company was convicted of wrongdoing that contributed to the 2010 natural gas explosion that killed eight people.
The Dixie Fire was a megafire that burned nearly a million acres in five Northern California counties. One firefighter was killed and three others injured. More than 1,300 buildings were destroyed.
The fire was caused by a tree affecting electrical distribution lines west of a dam in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where the fire started on July 13 last year, state fire investigators said.
The Kincade Fire burned more than 77,700 acres in Sonoma County, home to some of California’s most famous wineries. More than 370 buildings were destroyed and nearly 100,000 evacuated.
Sonoma County prosecutors filed 33 criminal complaints last year charging PG&E with accidentally injuring six firefighters and endangering public health with smoke and ash from the Kincade fire.
PG&E has been blamed for more than 30 wildfires since 2017 that have destroyed more than 23,000 homes and businesses and killed more than 100 people. It has previously scored more than $25.5 billion worth of settlements with wildfire victims.
While PG&E, the nation’s largest utility, has caused some of California’s most devastating fires, the climate crisis is exacerbating fires in the state and across the country. Extreme heat and a multi-year drought along with decreasing snow cover and precipitation are fueling larger and more unpredictable fires.
AP contributed to this report