PG&E Says It’s Likely Behind California Wildfires, Braces for Additional $11.5 Billion in Damages

Pacific Gas & Electric is including an $11.5 billion pre-tax charge related to third-party claims in connection with devastating wildfires that hit the state in the last two years, according to financial data released on Feb. 28.

The battered utility admits that based on information currently available, it is “probable” that its equipment will ultimately be determined to have been the ignition point of the 2018 Camp Fire last November, the deadliest in California’s history. Despite the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection not having made a final determination on the issue yet, PG&E is already assuming a total of $10.5 billion pre-tax charges for third-party claims in connection with the disaster, as well as $1.0 billion pre-tax charges related to the 2017 Northern California wildfires, namely the Atlas and Cascade fires, which were not included in the prior $2.5 billion charges.

To date, the company has taken a total of $14.0 billion in pre-tax charges related to these wildfires, almost half of the previously announced estimate of potential wildfire liabilities, likely to exceed $30 billion. The utility has already stated that resolving the issues stemming from wildfires over the last two years will be “enormously complex,” involving thousands of victims and others who have made or are expected to make claims.