PG&E Power Line Near California Wildfire Had Damage
December 11 2018 - 10:57PM
Dow Jones News
By Russell Gold
PG&E Corp. released new information indicating that one of
its power lines was damaged immediately prior to the beginning of
the massive Camp Fire in northern California last month that killed
at least 86 people and destroyed 18,800 buildings.
In a filing with state regulators on Tuesday, PG&E said a
large power line stopped working shortly before the fire began. The
energized power line and insulator appear to have separated from
one of the metal towers that held it aloft, the company said. It
also found "wear at the connection point."
California investigators haven't determined whether PG&E
equipment caused the Camp Fire, the deadliest in state history, and
the company stressed in the Tuesday filing that the cause remains
under investigation. But the disclosure of equipment problems
immediately prior to the fire increases the likelihood that
PG&E could be found responsible, exposing the company to
billions of dollars in fire-related liability costs.
The utility previously disclosed to regulators that the
115,000-volt line suddenly lost power at 6:15 a.m. that morning on
Nov. 8, some 15 minutes before the start of the Camp Fire was
reported. The state is expected to take months to issue its
findings on the cause of the fire.
California law makes PG&E potentially responsible for
damages if its equipment started the wildfire, regardless of
whether the company is found to have acted negligently. Concerns
that PG&E would be liable for damages sent the company's stock
price down dramatically in the aftermath of the fire. Its shares
are down about 45% since the fire.
The state's fire investigator, Cal Fire, is still probing
whether PG&E equipment helped cause the worst in a series of
2017 fires that charred the state. But it has found PG&E
responsible for 17 major fires in 2017 that destroyed 3,256
structures and killed 22 people. Eleven of those cases have been
referred to county district attorneys for possible criminal charges
against PG&E.
State regulators had said they expect PG&E to pay some of
the costs of wildfire damages in 2017 and possibly the Camp Fire
also, but that additional costs could be passed on to utility
ratepayers through bonds to pay damages from the fires.
In the filing Tuesday, the company said that about 15 minutes
after the 115,000-volt line lost power, a PG&E employee noticed
a "fire in the vicinity" of the tower holding up that portion of
the line.
A subsequent inspection by the utility found a broken hook that
had held an insulator connected to the line, the company said
Tuesday. PG&E employees noticed a flash mark on the tower. The
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection later
determined the fire's initial coordinates were near the damaged
tower.
PG&E also disclosed that a second, smaller power line
experienced an outage at 6:45 a.m. on Nov. 8. Later inspection
found a wooden pole with bullets and bullet holes near its breaking
point, the company said. Several trees had also fallen in the area,
and some had fallen on top of the wires.
Write to Russell Gold at russell.gold@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 11, 2018 22:42 ET (03:42 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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