California regulator proposes $45 million penalty for PG&E over 2021 Dixie hearth By Reuters

(Reuters) – The California Public Utilities Fee (CPUC) on Monday proposed a $45 million shareholder-funded penalty in opposition to Pacific Gasoline and Electrical Firm (PG&E (NYSE:)) for its connections to the damaging 2021 Dixie wildfire.

California’s second-largest wildfire, ignited after a tree fell on the state’s essential utility’s electrical distribution wires in July 2021, burned greater than 963,000 acres in a number of counties.

The proposed penalty, pending CPUC Commissioner’s approval, consists of a $2.5 million superb to the California Common Fund, $2.5 million cost to tribes impacted by the hearth for remediation, and $40 million for capital expenditures to transition data to digital format.

CPUC enforcement workers is recommending this penalty beneath an Administrative Consent Order (ACO) and Settlement, as per a launch on the state regulator’s web site.

The proposed settlement will probably be on the CPUC’s voting assembly agenda on Nov. 16.

PG&E was not accessible for remark exterior common enterprise hours.