Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PGCE) managed to avoid criminal charges by paying a $55 million settlement with Northstate prosecutors over its involvement with two wildfires, the Dixie Fire and the Kincade Fire.
The District Attorneys of Plumas, Lassen, Tehama, Shasta, and Butte Counties on Monday announced that they have reached a settlement with the utility company over the Dixie Fire that ravaged the nation last year.
$55 Million Settlement
The recently agreed settlement requires PG&E to make rapid payments with a deadline of this summer to residents who lost their homes because of the Dixie Fire. The company is also required to continue to make extensive improvements in the safety and reliability of PG&E infrastructure in the North State and the affected counties.
PG&E will also be subject to oversight by the District Attorney through an independent safety monitor. It will also pay nearly $30 million to recompense local charities and organizations who were involved in mitigating the effects of the fire on nearby structures. The settlement also requires the company to pay penalties and costs of the investigation to the DA offices, as per KRCRTV.
Sonoma County prosecutors spent roughly two months in negotiations with PG&E over the settlement agreement so that the company can prevent District Attorney Jill Ravitch's 30-count criminal case from pushing through against the utility company.
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If the settlement was not agreed to, the investor-owned company would have pleaded guilty to the eight felonies and 22 misdemeanors. These would have added to the list of official punishments against PG&E for its role in the largest wildfire in Sonoma County history in 2019.
According to Press Democrat, the company had already paid $31 million in damages to Sonoma County and the cities of Santa Rosa, Windsor, Cloverdale, and Healdsburg and $125 million to the state. But the company is set to pay more in the settlement as even after almost two-and-a-half years after the fire, many victims of the Kincade Fire have not yet received compensation.
PG&E's Involvement
The district attorney for Butte County, Michael L. Ramsey, released a statement saying that the settlement avoids both bankruptcy and inordinate delay for the Dixie Fire homeowners and renters. This is particularly helpful for the victims who do not have insurance to compensate for what they lost.
Investigators determined that the fires were sparked when a tree came into contact with PG&E's power lines near the Cresta Dam which is located roughly 100 miles north of Sacramento. The Kincade Fire burned through nearly 78,000 acres in Sonoma County, resulting in four injuries and the destruction of 374 buildings.
On the other hand, the Dixie Fire burned roughly 963,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,300 buildings across various counties in the region. Ravitch said that while criminal charges against PG&E have been dismissed, the level of punishment and oversight provided by the settlement agreement is greater than what could be achieved against a corporation in criminal court while still helping and supporting victims, the New York Times reported.
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