PG&E Disputes Shasta County Criminal Charges Related to 2020 Zogg Fire
September 24 2021 - 3:34PM
Business Wire
PG&E Corporation shared the following statement from CEO
Patti Poppe today regarding criminal charges filed by the Shasta
County District Attorney’s office related to the September 2020
Zogg Fire.
“We are all devastated by the effects of wildfire here in
California. My heart aches. I have seen firsthand how devastating
it is and have spoken with many of those most harmed. These
communities are the hometowns where my coworkers live and work,
too. While I am new to this environment, I hope my heart never
becomes hardened to the devastation that catastrophic wildfire can
cause.
I came to PG&E to make it right and make it safe, which is a
commitment that my 40,000 coworkers and contract partners all
share. We’ve already resolved many victim claims arising from the
Zogg Fire, along with the claims by the counties of Shasta and
Tehama. And we are working hard to resolve the remaining
claims.
We’ve accepted CAL FIRE’s determination, reached earlier this
year, that a tree contacted our electric line and started the Zogg
Fire. We accept that conclusion. But we did not commit a crime.
Today's climate and unprecedented drought have forever changed
the relationship between trees and power lines. And please know
we’re not sitting idly by. We have established a new standard for
our lines and the vegetation near them because it poses such a real
risk to our communities.
For example, on the Zogg Fire, the tree that started the fire is
one of over 8 million trees within striking distance to our lines.
Here are a few other facts.
Between October 2018 and last year’s Zogg Fire:
- Two trained arborists walked this line and
independent of one another determined the tree in question could
stay.
- We trimmed or removed over 5,000 trees on this
very circuit alone.
- This year we will remove 300,000 trees
statewide.
This vital safety work is all done by real people who are trying
every day to do the right thing. Trained, professional people - my
PG&E coworkers and our extended contractor family. Arborists,
specifically, are trained professionals and sometimes, just like
doctors or architects, they can have professional differences.
There will be debates about the facts around the tree that started
the Zogg Fire. Professional debate in the service of doing what is
right and continuously improving.
This was a tragedy, four people died. And my coworkers are
working so hard to prevent fires and the catastrophic losses that
come with them. They have dedicated their careers to it,
criminalizing their judgment is not right. Failing to prevent this
fire is not a crime.
Right now, PG&E is:
- Investing more than $1.4 billion this year
alone in vegetation management;
- Removing 300,000 trees and trimming 1 million
more;
- We’re working toward burying 10,000 miles of
power lines;
- We’re installing remote and micro grids to
eliminate the wires altogether; and
- We’re reestablishing and building our system
to a new standard of resilience that keeps our communities safe and
powered as our climate continues to change around us.
We are seeing signs of progress. For example, even during this
year, with extreme drought conditions, we have reduced our
ignitions over 50%.
That is our best ever performance since we have been tracking
this and yet, we are still dissatisfied. That’s why we are not
going to stop there.
We’re putting everything we’ve got into preventing wildfires and
reducing the risk. Though it may feel satisfying for the company of
PG&E to be charged with a crime, what I know is the company of
PG&E is people, 40,000 people who get up every day to make it
safe and to end catastrophic wildfire and tragedies like this.
Let’s be clear, my coworkers are not criminals. We welcome our
day in court so people can learn just that.”
Poppe’s statement is also available on PG&E Currents and
broadcast quality video is available here.
Details about PG&E’s efforts to further reduce the growing
wildfire risk, harden its systems, and use new technologies to help
keep its communities safe can be found in the company’s 2021
Wildfire Mitigation Plan.
About PG&E Corporation
PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) is the parent company of
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E or the “Utility”), a
combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16
million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central
California. For more information, visit pgecorp.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements that are
not historical facts, including statements about the beliefs,
expectations, estimates, future plans and strategies of PG&E
Corporation and the Utility, including but not limited to the
criminal charges filed in connection with the 2020 Zogg fire and
the Utility’s vegetation management and system hardening efforts.
These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions,
which management believes are reasonable, and on information
currently available to management, but are necessarily subject to
various risks and uncertainties. In addition to the risk that these
assumptions prove to be inaccurate, factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those contemplated by the
forward-looking statements include factors disclosed in PG&E
Corporation and the Utility's joint annual report on Form 10-K for
the year ended December 31, 2020, their most recent quarterly
report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, and other
reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which
are available on PG&E Corporation's website at pgecorp.com and
on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. PG&E Corporation and the
Utility undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether due to new information, future
events or otherwise, except to the extent required by law.
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