PG&E to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter for California wildfire that killed 85
PG&E Corp. is a felon again.
California’s utility said Monday it will plead guilty to 85 felony charges in connection with the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in California history, in an agreement with the Butte County district attorney.
The plea will result in a fine of $4 million. PG&E also agreed to help restore water to residents affected by the destruction of a canal that runs through Butte County.
PG&E will plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and a single count of unlawfully causing a fire.
Officials have said 85 people died in the Camp Fire. Mike Ramsey, the Butte County DA, said only 84 manslaughter charges were filed because one of the victims committed suicide. Investigators originally believed the person killed himself to “avoid being burned” but weren’t able to prove that.
He added that investigators considered pursuing criminal charges against individuals at PG&E but “we can’t really get into the details of the investigation.”
He said the $4 million represents “the maximum fine, whether it was an individual or a corporation.”
Ramsey said PG&E executives were originally scheduled to enter the guilty plea in Butte County Superior Court in Chico this Friday, but the coronavirus pandemic has pushed the hearing back to April 24.
The DA said PG&E’s actions were deemed criminal because they amounted to “disregard for human life.”
Investigators have determined that sparks from a faulty PG&E transmission tower ignited the fire. Four months ago the Public Utilities Commission blasted the utility’s maintenance practices, saying it failed to properly inspect the tower.
A broken C-hook, a metal piece designed to separate transmission wires from the tower itself, was identified by investigators as the cause. The break likely allowed a jumper cable to brush against the tower, creating sparks that showered the dry ground below. The fire destroyed more than 10,000 homes, representing most of the town of Paradise.
PG&E filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2019, citing the tens of billions of dollars in liabilities from the Camp Fire and the October 2017 wine county wildfires in Northern California. More than 40 people died in the 2017 fires.
“On November 8, 2018, the Camp Fire destroyed the towns of Paradise and Concow, impacted Magalia and other parts of Butte County and took the lives of more than 80 people. Thousands lost their homes and businesses,” the utility’s chief executive Bill Johnson said in a prepared statement. “Many others were forced to evacuate and leave their lives behind. Our equipment started the fire. Those are the facts, and with this plea agreement we accept responsibility for our role in the fire.”
“Today’s charges underscore the reality of all that was lost, and we hope that accepting those charges helps bring more certainty to the path forward so we can get victims paid fairly and quickly,” Johnson said.
Johnson noted that PG&E previously reached settlements with victims from wildfires in 2015, 2017 and 2018, totaling approximately $25.5 billion. This amount, he said, includes payment for all claims from individuals impacted by the Camp Fire and reimbursement for claims by Butte County agencies.
PG&E last week agreed to the demands made by Gov. Gavin Newsom to overhaul the utility’s operations and leadership, clearing one of the last remaining big hurdles to getting out of bankruptcy. Johnson said PG&E is working to exit bankruptcy, “so that we can get victims paid.”
The $4 million fine illustrates the limitations of bringing criminal charges against a corporation in a disaster like the Camp Fire. PG&E is facing a much stiffer penalty in the Camp Fire, as much as $2.1 billion, from the state Public Utilities Commission.
But while the financial penalty from the plea agreement is relatively small, it could create significant new legal complications for PG&E.
PG&E is already under probation after being convicted of criminal charges in connection with the deadly natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno in 2010 that killed eight people. Under the terms of the probation, the company can’t commit any more crimes. The criminal probe in Butte County has been under way for months.
The guilty plea in the Camp Fire case isn’t the first time PG&E has faced criminal charges in a wildfire. In 1997 a Nevada County jury found the company guilty of 739 misdemeanor counts of negligence following a fire that burned a dozen homes.
This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 6:31 AM.