Pacific Gas and Electric Company
This “is not how things should work," Gov. Gavin Newsom said of PG&E's forced power shutoff in response to wildfire risk.
Outages are planned in more than half of California’s 58 counties, although not everyone in those counties will have their power cut.
The utility's Chapter 11 plan offered no more than $8.4 billion for wildfire victims -- an amount skewered as unsatisfactory.
Gavin Newsom wants to throw a financial lifeline to the state’s major utilities, including PG&E, dealing with the results of wildfires -- in exchange for concessions around safety.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
The settlement with the California utility included $270 million to the town of Paradise, which was mostly destroyed in the fire.
85 people were killed by the blaze, and nearly 14,000 homes were leveled.
The power company said the fund will help with living expenses and other urgent needs, according to a bankruptcy court filing.
The fire in the Northern California town of Paradise was the state’s deadliest and most destructive ever.
Under a PG&E bankruptcy, wildfire victims likely won’t get all of the money they have sued for, experts have said.
Pacific Gas and Electric faces billions of dollars in claims stemming from recent infernos, including the Camp wildfire.