After a months-long investigation, state regulators announced a proposed settlement Tuesday with Pacific Gas and Electric that blocks the publicly traded utility from recovering $1.625 billion in wildfire-related costs from ratepayers. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, PG&E would also be required to spend $50 million in shareholder money on system enhancements that regulators hope will lessen the risk of the utility’s equipment causing further disastrous wildfires. Members of the public can comment on the proposed settlement by emailing public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov and referring to proceeding number I.19-06-015. The CPUC’s proposed settlement came on the same day as PG&E announced a reworking of a $13.5-billion settlement with wildfire victims to try to prevent the agreement from unraveling after Gov. Newsom had jeopardized the pivotal settlement when he refused to give it his blessing Friday as part of PG&E’s bankruptcy plan.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 18, 2019 04:52 UTC