PCG PG&E Corporation

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)

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