Here’s another article regarding legislation shielding PG&E from liability when they cause a wildfire:
https://calmatters.org/articles/newsletters/wm-11-26-2018/
After reading about PG&E’s blatant tampering with the legislature, I had to write a letter to the editor.
While it has not been proven PG&E caused the Camp Fire, victims are rushing forward to sue the utility giant for the loss of their homes. Meanwhile, a Southern California Legislator seeks legislation that would “help PG&E Corp absorb liabilities from this year’s fatal wildfires in California…”
Assemblyman Chris Holden (Pasadena) also carried legislation in 2017 that allowed PG&E to sell bonds, backed by ratepayers, to cover their liabilities in the Santa Rosa and other deadly fires. That’s what I would call a “double burn.”
According to Insurance Journal, “Holden’s bill may serve as a framework for lawmakers to consider relief for PG&E from the billions of dollars it faces in potential liability for death and property damage in Northern California’s Camp Fire, the deadliest in state history.”
Holden “is concerned about the instability of the utility and the adverse effect it could have on ratepayers…” More likely he is concerned about the effect it is already having on PG&E shareholders – PG&E shares “plunged by more than half since the Camp Fire broke out…”
Holden’s 2017 campaign reports show $8800 from PG&E, another $8800 from Edison. Cal Matters reports PG&E spent $6.28 million lobbying the governor, legislators and the California Public Utilities Commission, just in the third quarter of 2018.
Holden’s new bill will come up in early 2019, needing a 2/3’s majority to pass. Contact your state legislators and tell them, this bill would rip the victims off twice. If PG&E caused these fires, their shareholders need to feel the heat.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
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