California Commission Proposes to Impose $155 Million Penalties Against PG&E for Role in Zogg Fire

The California Public Utilities Commission on Oct. 25 issued a proposed order requiring restorative actions and $155.4 million in fines to be paid by the shareholders of Pacific Gas and Electric Company for violations related to the 2020 Zogg Fire. The order is part of a continuous attempt to make utilities accountable for instigating devastating wildfires.

Zogg Fire began on Sept. 27, 2020 in Shasta County and burned 56,338 acres and damaged 204 acres. Following the investigation from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the department concluded that the Zogg Fire was triggered by a pine tree contracting electrical distribution line owned and managed by PG&E. The Safety and Enforcement Division’s inquiry of the 2020 Zogg Fire exposed a number of breaches of the commission’s general orders. The administrative enforcement orders focus on these breaches through penalties and remedial activities.

PG&E has 30 days to either accept to pay the obligated penalty upon the commission’s implementation of a final order and to fulfil remedial actions within 45 days from the issuance of the final order, or to ask for a hearing.

The commission has taken a number of actions to make PG&E responsible for providing its customers. These include an administrative enforcement order punishing the company with $12 million and ordering corrective actions for inadequate implementation of 2020 Public Safety Power Shutoff, or PSPS, events. Last November, the commission issued a $5 million citation for the company’s inadequacy to comprehensively examine the Ignacio-Alto-Sausalito transmission lines from 2009 through 2018 and complete 22 high-priority fixes within the allocated time under the commission’s regulations. Incomplete distribution pole examinations in 2019 led to a citation of $2.5 million.

Further, the commission established a particular system of measurement to regularly examine the company’s operational safety execution. Last October, regulators directed PG&E to take instant action to lower and mitigate customer impacts from the unexpected loss of electricity due to the company’s implementation of its Fast Trip program. The commission ordered the company to address its preparedness for PSPS events at a briefing held in August and also asked the company to improve its PSPS procedure. The commission has also established standards, scope, and prospects for an independent safety monitor that will offer monitoring information to the commission.