After years of wildfires linked to power lines, a deadly explosion and accusations of falsified safety records, California utility owner PG&E Corp. is facing a deterioration of trust among state leaders.
The California Public Utilities Commission on Friday began a formal process to evaluate whether PG&E’s Pacific Gas and Electric utility should be split into separate electric and gas companies, carved into smaller regional subsidiaries or converted into a publicly owned company. The regulator also will look into less drastic steps, such as whether PG&E needs new board members or management.
The step came a day after a key state senator demanded changes to the board and executive suite.
“Enough is enough,” said Senator Bill Dodd, a Democrat of Napa, who had been considered friendly to the company after writing legislation that will help it pay for lawsuits arising from last year’s wine country wildfires, many of which were tied to its power lines. “We have to have a safety culture at PG&E.”
Submitted December 22, 2018 at 10:12AM by COMPUTER1313 http://bit.ly/2V5Kgxe
