Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is suspending dividend payments to shareholders out of concern for any finding of financial liability in Northern California’s devastating wildfires, the San Francisco-based utility said Wednesday. In a statement, board chairman Richard C. Kelly said utility officials decided temporarily halting the payments “is prudent with respect to cash conservation” for the state’s largest utility. California officials say the wine-country fires destroyed more houses than any disaster in the state since San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake. Fire investigators say one possibility they are examining is whether power lines or other electrical equipment sparked the fires. The utility paid $921 million in dividends last year and had paid out $754 million through the first nine months of this year, regulatory filings show.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 21, 2017 00:22 UTC