PG&E's History of Incidents, Criminal Charges, Safety Lapses
May 2023: PG&E pays $150 Million fine for their role in the Zogg Fire as a settlement to avoid criminal penalties. (Source)
February 2023: Judge declares there's enough evidence for PG&E to go to trial for the Zogg Fire that killed four people. PG&E is accused of 11 felonies and misdemeanors, including four accounts of involuntary manslaughter. (Source)
April 2022: PG&E pays $55M to avoid criminal prosecution for its role in starting the Dixie and Kincaide fires. (Source)
September 2021: PG&E charged with 31 crimes, including 11 felonies, for the criminally negligent acts that caused 4 deaths in Shasta County. (Source)
July 2021: PG&E admitted their equipment most likely started the large Dixie Fire in the same general location of the deadly Camp Fire. The company provides photos showing a tree leaning against power lines. The Dixie fire spreads out to become the largest fire in California history. (Source)
April 2021: PG&E charged with five felonies and 28 misdemeanors for recklessly causing the Kincade Fire in 2019, resulting in the destruction of 400 buildings and serious injury of six firefighters. (Source)
March 2021: Investigators find PG&E equipment responsible for the Sept 2020 Zogg fire in Shasta County which killed four people. (Source)
March 2020: PG&E pleads guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter from the 2018 Butte County "Camp Fire".
(Source)
January 2020: The CPUC increases PG&E's fine for falsifying "locate & dig" safety records to $110 million. PG&E admitted that, from 2012 to 2016, it misled state safety officials. (Source)
October 2019: PG&E "has agreed to pay $65 million to settle claims it falsified records and misrepresented how quickly it responded to excavators’ requests to locate and mark gas pipelines. The commission uncovered 67 cases where crews struck underground lines while excavating, and concluded 'the threat of physical and economic harm associated with each of the violations makes them severe.'" (Source)
March 2019: The NYTimes publishes extensive expose' on how PG&E prioritizes profits over safety. (Source)
December 2018: The CPUC accused PG&E of falsifying gas safety records: “Utility falsification of safety related records is a serious violation of law and diminishes our trust in the utility’s reports on their progress,” Commission President Michael Picker said in a statement Friday. “These findings are another example of why we are investigating PG&E’s safety culture.” (Source)
2018: PG&E's electrical equipment caused the "Camp Fire", California's deadliest and most destructive fire that killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 19,000 structures. Total damage is estimated at $16.5 Billion.
2018: PG&E fined $97.5 million for improper back-channel communications with state utility regulators from 2010 to 2014.
2017: PG&E's electrical equipment caused at least 17 major California wildfires, according to CalFire. The fires together scorched 193,743 acres in eight counties, destroyed 3,256 structures and killed 22 people. (Source)
2016: PG&E employees working on a gas valve in Deer Park ignited an explosion that injured 2 people. PG&E was fined $4.05 million by the CPUC.
2016: PG&E fined $5.4 million for improper gas-system inspections by unqualified contractors and failure to promptly notify regulators when discovered.
2015: PG&E fined $1.6 billion in state penalties and remedies for 2,425 violations of pipeline-safety rules and hindering an investigation of 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion.
2015: PG&E fined $1.0 million for a gas leak and explosion in Yuba City caused by PG&E's incorrect installation.
2013: PG&E fined $8.1 million for substandard inspections of gas pipelines by a contractor.
2012: PG&E fined $16.8 million for failing to do gas-leak inspections after utility lost some maps.
2011: PG&E paid $38 million for fatal gas explosion in Rancho Cordova, Calif.; utility failed to remove pipe improperly installed two years earlier.
2010: PG&E's San Bruno explosion killed eight people, injuring 58 people, destroyed 36 homes, and caused a fire to burn for several hours. It took PG&E nearly 90 minute to stop the gas flow, and its violations of gas safety laws and obstruction of justice resulted in five counts of felony convictions and five years parole.
1994: PG&E was convicted of 739 counts of negligence following the following the 1994 wildfires in Nevada County.
1952-1966: PG&E dumped roughly 370 million gallons of Chromium-6 tainted waste water in the town of Hinkley, California. The subject of the movie, Erin Brockovich, this action resulted in a $333 Million judgement against PG&E. The site remains contaminated today.