PG&E under federal probe in Dixie fire

More than $1 billion in losses tied to blaze expected

In yet another investigation into the role that utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric has played in California’s worsening wildfires, the company announced Monday that it received a subpoena from the U.S. attorney’s office seeking documents related to the Dixie fire.

PG&E received the subpoena Oct. 7, according to Monday’s regulatory filing, which also said the utility expects to take a loss of at least $1.15 billion from the blaze.

The Dixie fire — the secondlargest wildfire in California history — ignited in the dense forest of Plumas County in July. In the weeks and months that followed, it burned through more than 963,000 acres across five counties, destroying 1,300 structures and leveling the town of Greenville.

The cause remains under investigation, but PG&E previously said its equipment may have been the source of the blaze after a worker in the Feather River Canyon area reported two blown fuses and a tree leaning into a power line conductor on July 13, the date the fire started.

A small fire was burning at the base of the tree, but nearly 10 hours passed between the initial sighting and the arrival of first responders, according to a report submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission.

The quarterly report filed Monday confirmed that PG&E received a subpoena from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of California in October. The company is cooperating with the investigation, they said.

PG&E spokeswoman Lynsey Paulo said in a statement

Monday that the company is “working every day” to resolve claims stemming from past fires and to make its systems safer.

“Our hearts continue to be with everyone who was affected by the Dixie fire,” Paulo said. “As we’ve shared previously, we believe our actions around the time of the Dixie fire’s ignition show that we are a reasonable operator of our electric system. We remain focused on reducing wildfire risk across our service area and are committed to keeping our customers and communities safe.”

A spokesperson for the attorney’s office declined to comment Monday, citing the ongoing investigation.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Butte County district attorney’s office and other agencies are also investigating the cause of the blaze, PG&E said. Cal Fire seized some equipment as part of its probe in July but has not yet issued a determination as to the fire’s cause.

Potential liabilities from the fire are dependent on a variety of factors, including the cause of the blaze as well as the number, size and type of structures and trees damaged or destroyed, PG&E said.

But the aggregate $1.15-billion liability represents the lower end of the range of potential losses: The company also could be liable for claims relating to property damage, business interruptions, fire suppression and evacuation costs, medical expenses and even damage to national park or forest lands, the utility said.

PG&E did not have enough information by the quarterly filing date to accurately estimate some of those costs — including potential claims tied to vegetation destruction — but said such losses “could be significant with respect to fire suppression costs due to the size and duration of the 2021 Dixie fire.”

The latest investigation marks another blow for the beleaguered utility, which filed for bankruptcy in 2019 after multibillion-dollar legal liabilities from 2018’s Camp fire and other blazes.

PG&E eventually pleaded guilty to 84 deaths from the Camp fire, the deadliest wildfire in state history.