Pacific Gas & Electric Company announced Friday that it has reached another settlement in relation to a number of deadly fires.
PG&E said the settlement is valued at approximately $13.5 billion and will cover individual claims for fires from 2015-2018. The settlement covers the 2018 Camp Fire, 2017 Tubbs Fire, 2015 Butte Fire and 2016 Ghost Ship fire in Oakland.
“I’m glad. Those people have been waiting a lot longer than we have,” Paradise Mayor Jody Jones said Saturday.
Jones said that while it’s unclear how the money will eventually be divided, it’s a positive step for the utility.
“I think it’s encouraging that they’ve reached agreement on a number because that perhaps means that this is going to get done in a timely manner, and the victims are going to get compensated,” she said.
Some in Paradise, though, said the damage there is permanent and don’t believe there will be enough to make each Camp Fire survivor whole.
“There’s not really a dollar amount that they’re going to be able to put that’s going to make this OK,” said Victoria Sinclaire.
Sinclaire moved into her brand-new Paradise home in July. It was the first completed rebuild for the town. Her daughter and her mother also lost their homes, she said.
In the 13 months since the Camp Fire, she said talking about her escape from the state’s deadliest and most destructive fire has become easier with the help of counseling. Still, she sleeps with a fire extinguisher by her bed.
It’s the lingering effect she worries won’t be covered by the settlement.
“Will that make people whole again at least financially that maybe were underinsured or not insured at all? Or even those of us who were insured? Is that going to make it better?” she asked. “Is it going to make it whole? And will that pay for the years of counseling we all need to be able to deal with this and the aftermath of what it caused in our communities?”
The news also comes after the company had two previous settlements, one for $1 billion with cities and other public entities and another for $11 billion related to insurance claims from 2017 and 2018 wildfires, the company noted.
“We know some of that (settlement) will go to governments and some of that will go to attorneys. So, we don’t know the exact number coming back to victims yet. That will all come out in the wash,” said Kelly Brothers, KCRA 3 financial expert. “What it means for the bankruptcy judge? Not sure either. I think it improves the chances they emerge from bankruptcy as a company.”
Bankruptcy court must still approve the settlement, which the company said would set it on path to emerge from bankruptcy by June 30, 2020, which is the deadline to join the state’s $21 billion wildfire fund under Assembly Bill 1054.
One big question remains, however, according to Brothers.
“Now, what money is left to do the upgrades and the improvements we know PG&E needs? Those decades of deferred maintenance are still out there. Fire season is six months away. What happens when we have the next fire?” he wondered.
Brothers said one strategy PG&E might consider is selling off some of its grid to cities poised to run it themselves. That money, he said, could be used to finance improvements and upgrades.
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