WSJ Article: PG&E Delayed Safety Work
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that PG&E was warned in 2010 that the transmission line suspected of causing the Camp Fire would soon face an overload of power moving through it. Despite this warning, PG&E took several years to propose a $30.3 million repair project. Even after this, PG&E continued to defer repairs until December 2018, more than one month after the deadly Camp Fire. When PG&E finally inspected the line closely after the fire, it discovered additional problems.
PG&E claims that it is now considering turning off power lines proactively during high-fire risk periods. However they have been “considering” this for some time, and have not put this plan into action, despite other utilities in the state adopting this safety-first approach.
On top of their deferred maintenance, PG&E’s record-keeping system is outdated, making it difficult to assess safety and reliability of its aging power grid. PG&E knows its system is outdated, and yet shows no real interest in improving it. Garrick Jones, a consultant who reviewed their records, stated that PG&E understands it has issues, but “has a history of making promises and under-delivering.”
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Northern California Fire Lawyers is a team of more than 30 attorneys from a coalition of three Northern California law firms: Corey, Luzaich, de Ghetaldi & Riddle, Danko Meredith and Gibbs Law Group. Collectively, our fire lawyers have more experience investigating and bringing claims against PG&E than any law firm in California. Our attorneys have been appointed by California judges to leadership positions in some of the largest fire and disaster cases, including the Butte Fire Cases, 2017 PG&E Fire Cases, and San Bruno Explosion lawsuits.
Our attorneys currently represent over 200 families who are victims of the 2015 Butte Fire that devastated over 70,000 acres. We have earned hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for our clients, and members of our team have been honored for their work with numerous awards, including “Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California,” “Trial Lawyer of the Year,” and “Top Women Lawyers in Northern California,” among others.
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