BREAKING: PG&E Reserves $14 Billion to Pay Wildfire Survivors

According to a submission to the Securities and Exchange Commission today, PG&E stated that it “believes it is probable that the Utility’s equipment will be determined to be an ignition point of the 2018 Camp [F]ire.”  As a result, the company is including a $10.5 billion pre-tax charge related to Camp Fire claims, along with a new $1.0 billion charge relating to the 2017 Atlas and Cascade Fires.  Altogether, the company has reserved a total of $14 billion to pay wildfire survivors who make a claim in bankruptcy.

PG&E provided more detail in a press release:

  • CAL FIRE identified coordinates for the Camp Fire near a tower on PG&E’s Caribou-Palermo 115 kV Transmission Line and identified the start time as 6:33 a.m. on November 8, 2018
  • At approximately 6:15 a.m. that morning, the Caribou-Palermo 115 kV transmission line relayed and deenergized.
  • Approximately 15 minutes later, a PG&E employee observed fire in the vicinity of the tower and reported it to 911
  • Later that day, an aerial patrol identified that a suspension insulator had separated from an arm on the tower
  • A few days later, the company observed a broken C-hook that had connected the insulator, wear at the connection point, and a flash mark on the tower

About Northern California Fire Lawyers

Northern California Fire Lawyers is a team of more than 30 attorneys from a coalition of three Northern California law firms: Corey, Luzaich, de Ghetaldi & Riddle, Danko Meredith and Gibbs Law Group.  Collectively, our fire lawyers have more experience investigating and bringing claims against PG&E than any law firm in California.  Our attorneys have been appointed by California judges to leadership positions in some of the largest fire and disaster cases, including the Butte Fire Cases, 2017 PG&E Fire Cases, and San Bruno Explosion lawsuits.

Our attorneys currently represent over 200 families who are victims of the 2015 Butte Fire that devastated over 70,000 acres.  We have earned hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for our clients, and members of our team have been honored for their work with numerous awards, including “Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California,” “Trial Lawyer of the Year,” and “Top Women Lawyers in Northern California,” among others.

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Our wildfire attorneys are happy to answer any questions you may have. Call (530) 208-3062, or email us at contact@norcalfirelawyers.com to speak with a wildfire attorney, free of charge.