SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — California's energy regulator slapped Pacific Gas and Electric with a $125 million penalty Tuesday for sparking the Kincade Fire, which burned over 77,000 acres and destroyed 374 structures in Sonoma County in 2019.
Investigators with the California Public Utilities Commission’s safety and enforcement division found the fire was caused when a worn jumper cable, which was installed in 1973, failed and snapped off a transmission tower near Geyserville on Oct. 23, 2019.
Investigators with Cal Fire previously determined that a PG&E transmission line ignited the blaze. PG&E faces 33 criminal charges, including five felonies, in Sonoma County Superior Court for causing the blaze that injured six firefighters and caused $600 million in insurance losses. In September, a Sonoma County judge denied PG&E's motion to dismiss 25 air-pollution-related charges in the case.
About 200,000 residents from Healdsburg, Windsor, Santa Rosa and Geyserville fled their homes after the Kincade Fire erupted, making it the largest evacuation in county history.
Under the terms of a proposed settlement announced Tuesday, PG&E shareholders will pay a $40 million fine that will go to California’s general fund. The company would also be permanently barred from seeking $85 million in cost recovery for permanent removal of abandoned transmission equipment within its service territory, adding up to a $125 million in total penalties.
In an emailed statement, PG&E spokesman James Noonan said the company accepts Cal Fire’s finding that a PG&E transmission line caused the Kincade Fire. He said the company is working to make its system safe and resolve claims stemming from past fires sparked by the utility’s equipment.
“While we disagree with SED’s alleged violations, we believe the settlement will assist in allowing all parties to move forward from the fire, and permit us to focus on compensating victims and making our energy system safer,” Noonan said.
The safety and enforcement division concluded PG&E violated two general orders and one section of the state public utilities code by failing to properly configure the jumper cable and insulator strings at the tower, abandoning energized equipment, failing to remove an abandoned line and failing to remediate an improper configuration of jumper cables.
PG&E previously reached settlements with 10 California cities and counties in which it agreed to pay $43.4 million for local areas damaged by the Kincade Fire and the 2020 Zogg Fire in Shasta County. The company faces an additional 31 criminal charges for sparking the Zogg Fire.
News of the CPUC penalty comes as PG&E faces mounting scrutiny over its equipment’s role in starting the Dixie Fire this past July. The wildfire burned over 963,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,300 buildings, including much of the town of Greenville in Plumas County.
On Monday, PG&E announced in a securities filing it has been subpoenaed for documents related to the Dixie Fire by federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of California. The company also revealed it faces a potential $1.15 billion in losses from the blaze, not including potential regulatory penalties, punitive damages or recovery of fire suppression and evacuation costs.
Also Tuesday, the CPUC announced a $550 million penalty against Southern California Edison for igniting five wildfires — the Rye, Myers, Liberty and Thomas fires — in 2017 and 2018.
Under the proposed settlement, SCE shareholders will pay a $110 million fine that will go to California’s general fund, contribute $65 million in shareholder funds to safety measures and be permanently barred from recovering $375 million in costs from ratepayers.
"SCE did not admit imprudence, negligence or liability in reaching the agreement," SCE spokesman Chris Abel said in a phone interview. "We believe the agreement is fair and reasonable and look forward to the CPUC’s review and approval."
The company previously agreed to pay $360 million to 23 public entities for the 2017 Thomas Fire, 2018 Montecito mudslide and 2018 Woolsey Fire. That’s on top of a $1.1 billion settlement SCE reached last year with insured fire victims for multiple lawsuits related to the 2017 Thomas and Koenigstein fires and subsequent mudslides.
The Thomas Fire burned nearly 282,000 acres across multiple counties in late 2017, killing two people and destroying over 1,000 structures. Heavy rain on the fire scar a month later led to a mudslide above the community of Montecito in Ventura County that killed 21 people when debris flowed over homes.
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