Posted on 11/14/2018 6:54:38 PM PST by Rebelbase
Shares of utility PG&E fell 21 percent on Wednesday after the company said its insurance wouldn't cover its cost if it's found responsible for the Camp Fire.
"If the Utility's equipment is determined to be the cause, the Utility could be subject to significant liability in excess of insurance coverage," the company said.
The utility company also discloses that it submitted an "electric incident report" to the California Public Utilities Commission on Nov. 8, just before the wildfire.
Shares of utility PG&E fell 21 percent on Wednesday after the company said that if its equipment is responsible for the "Camp Fire" burning in Northern California, the cost of the damage would exceed its insurance coverage and harm its financial health.
"While the cause of the Camp Fire is still under investigation, if the Utility's equipment is determined to be the cause, the Utility could be subject to significant liability in excess of insurance coverage," the company said in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. That would "have a material impact on PG&E Corporation's and the Utility's financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, and cash flows."
The plunge in the company's stock erased $3.7 billion in value as its market cap slid to $13.3 billion from $16.9 billion.
PG&E, owner of Pacific Gas & Electric Co., said its subsidiary has drawn down $3 billion from its credit line in anticipation of a fire-related liability. At least 48 people have died in the fire and a record 7,600 homes and other structures have been destroyed, according to official estimates. Hundreds of people remain missing.
Same here with the Woolsey fire in SoCal, might have been caused by SoCal Edison(They had a “Disturbance”) on one of their lines near the ol Rocketdyne plant 2 minutes before the fire
I always wondered why SOP for every wildfire was to blame an unknown and never caught arsonist. Now I understand the playbook a little better.
I wonder if they’ll just hike rates eventually to cover the losses.
Not sure how they wouldn’t be facing bankruptcy if they’re completely liable for this.
And if they ever did any forest management out there the whole state wouldn’t burn down every time a small fire got started.
Buy, Buy, Buy!
FROM: Califorrnia
TO: PG&E Stockholders
What’s in your wallet?
Mellankamp’s “Pink Houses” had a line in it that said something about the simple man paying the bills. To big to fail is another.
Dive dive dive..... down it goes..
Use google earth and zoom into Paradise and paradise pines .., it is basically an extension of the forrest.. lots of trees and shrubs with Many homes with combustible shingles ... all alinged in a wind tunnel .., it was just a matter of time
“I wonder if they’ll just hike rates eventually to cover the losses.”
Ya think?
L
There were early reports of arcing wires due to wind prior to the Santa Rosa fire that were largely dismissed.
There was a story posted earlier today about a woman who observed sparks coming from a power line close to her home.She called it in but nothing was done.The high winds at the time could have been a factor.
I wonder how much CALPERS has invested in PG&E. I hope a lot. The green government clique there deserves most of the blame and it would be merely just if they discovered they had skin in the game.
I remember a new housing development came along on highway 80 near Sacramento. A long fence surrounding the big development was tagged with the words “Flood Zone”. How does one become aware beforehand? New Orleans was mostly underwater. Even SF has the Sunset District. Before being developed it was called the fog belt. Real estate interests had it changed. Earthquake zone as well as a tsunami area.
100 years ago there were Fewer fires (less non -natural starts ) but they burnt many more acres since the fire suppression wasn’t as good
So back then the fuels didn’t build up for decades
So humans have been helping to cause these super intense burning fires but not from human influence climate change
'Sh** flows downhill' is another way of putting it.
Exactly! SCE, with its substation ON a nuclear test site, is responsible for the Woolsey Fire. That is a doozy. I drove through some of the devastation today and it is unbelievable.
Long term there's no loss, PG&E just gets to hike it's rates. It's a cash cow for California politicians. People get mad at PG&E instead of their politicians.
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