The Butte County community of Paradise burns in the Camp Fire. Faulty PG&E transmission lines sparked the 2018 wildfire, the most destructive in California’s history.

In 2023, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. made a bold statement: “Our stand is that catastrophic wildfires shall stop.” 

That was quite an assertion for a company whose legacy has become marred by its own culpability in a string of horrific California blazes. 

From 2009 to 2019, PG&E was held responsible for more than 1,500 fires. This included the 2018 Camp Fire, the most destructive wildfire in California history, which resulted in 85 deaths, the destruction of nearly 19,000 structures and the evacuation of 52,000 people. State investigators traced the cause of the fire to faulty PG&E transmission lines and revealed systemic problems.  

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In response, PG&E launched a comprehensive inspection effort across its grid, with a focus on high-risk wildfire areas. California’s drought turned much of the vegetation in PG&E's high-risk areas into standing firewood — as detailed by Katherine Blunt in her 2022 book “California Burning.” Dry conditions existed in more than half of PG&E’s service territory, where there were 5,500 miles of transmission lines. In 2018, the company released an apologetic statement admitting that over 250,000 repairs were needed across its system.

The resulting financial toll was staggering; PG&E faced an estimated $30 billion in wildfire liabilities. PG&E’s legal challenges and escalating liabilities drove the company to file for bankruptcy and........

© San Francisco Chronicle