Controversial PG&E Settlement Delayed

Source: Santa Rosa Press Democrat  |  By Marisa Endicott

California Public Utilities Commission officials have again put off deciding whether to approve a controversial settlement with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. over its role in the 2021 Dixie Fire, the second largest wildfire in California history. Commissioners were set to vote on the deal Thursday after delaying a decision in late November in order to gather more information. On Monday, however, regulators again bumped a vote, this time to Jan. 25. A CPUC spokesperson said the new delay was based on a need for “further review.” The agreement reached between PG&E and the CPUC’s Safety and Enforcement Division would penalize the utility giant $45 million, with $2.5 million going to the California General Fund and $2.5 million going to Indigenous tribes affected by the Dixie Fire.

Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, a utility customer advocacy group, said ratepayer representatives used to have greater insight and play a bigger role in such accountability processes, but public participation and oversight has become more limited. “It’s a new pattern, and one which we are pretty unhappy about,” Toney said. The organization also voiced concern about a 2021 settlement between the CPUC’s Safety and Enforcement Division and PG&E over the 2019 Kincade Fire, calling the deal “an abandonment of transparency and opportunities for public input.”