PG&E Reaches $13.5 Billion Settlement With Wildfire Victims

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — Pacific Gas & Electric Company reached a $13.5 billion settlement with victims of California wildfires, including the 2017 Tubbs Fire and 2018 Camp Fire, the utility announced Friday.

The agreement, which followed months of negotiations, settles a variety of claims ranging from the devastating Camp Fire — which was likely sparked by PG&E equipment — to the 2015 Butte Fire and Ghost Ship fire in Oakland.

“I think it’s a fantastic result,” attorney Rich Bridgford of Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian, which represented many of the victims, told the Associated Press.

The settlement is a crucial step toward helping PG&E emerge from bankruptcy, the New York Times reported. The utility said it faced a liability of up to $30 billion when it filed for bankruptcy in January.

"There have been many calls for PG&E to change in recent years," CEO Bill Johnson said in a statement. "PG&E’s leadership team has heard those calls for change, and we realize we need to do even more to be a different company now and in the future."

The settlement must be approved by a federal bankruptcy court at a hearing scheduled for Dec. 20.

Not all of the money will go toward wildfire victims, the Times reported. Some of the money will go to victims' lawyers, and some will help resolve claims made by government agencies. Wildfire victims must file claims by Dec. 31 to be eligible for payments.

While the agreement is a major step forward for PG&E, the utility is not out of the woods yet. It has come under fire more recently for its handling of public safety power shutoffs, prompting calls by elected officials like San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo for cities to ditch the utility in favor of locally-owned power grids.