California lawmaker pushes to make PG&E a publicly owned utility after wildfires News
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California lawmaker pushes to make PG&E a publicly owned utility after wildfires

California Senator Scott Wiener introduced SB 219 to the state legislature Monday in an attempt to make PG&E a publicly owned utility. The move comes a year after the company filed for bankruptcy, stemming from liability for the 2017 and 2018 California wildfires.

SB 219 would “authorize the authority to acquire, by eminent domain, the assets or ownership of an electrical corporation, gas corporation, or public utility that is both an electrical and gas corporation, including any franchise rights, if that corporation has been convicted of one or more felony criminal violations of laws enacted to protect the public safety within 10 years of the date the eminent domain action is commenced.”

In January 2019 the US District Court for the Northern District of California ordered PG&E to inspect a large amount of equipment that was attributed to have been a common cause of California wildfires in 2017 and 2018. PG&E pushed back, claiming full compliance of the order would have drastic effects on prices for customers. The company was already facing bankruptcy at that time, as well as $30 billion in damages for the 2017 and 2018 wildfires.

In April the same court ordered PG&E to stop paying dividends to shareholders and instead direct the funds toward vegetation management. The proposed legislation on Monday comes as pressure increases from residents of California that PG&E take responsibility for the wildfires.

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