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U.S. NEWS Thursday 20 February 2020
Judge rips PG&E for

poor safety record

leading to wildfires

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE 13 months ago.
AP Business Writer The judge told PG&E that
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — he believes the fires could
A U.S. judge ripped into have been prevented had
Pacific Gas & Electric on it upgraded and main- In this Sept. 9, 2010, file photo, a massive fire following a pipe-
Wednesday, saying its ex- tained its electrical system line explosion roars through a mostly residential neighborhood
ecutives have put greed instead of funneling billions in San Bruno, Calif.
before safety and tell- of dollars into shareholder Associated Press
ing officials from the utility dividends and executive
blamed for catastrophic bonuses. for adding tree trimmers, wildfire insurance fund cre-
California wildfires to plan "PG&E poses a threat to giving PG&E until March 2 ated by the state last sum-
to add at least 1,100 more the safety of the people to provide more informa- mer.
tree trimmers to cut the risk of Northern California be- tion about logistical chal- Noting his ability to crack
of even more blazes. cause you are so far be- lenges in doing so. down on PG&E will end
"I am going to do every- hind," Alsup said. The judge's harsh words with its probation in 23
thing I can to protect this PG&E lawyer Kevin Orsini came a day after the head months, Alsup urged New-
state from more death and assured the judge that the of the California Public Utili- som to take a hard look at
destruction from this con- company has "fundamen- ties Commission proposed whether the utility should
victed felon," U.S. District tally changed" since hiring a new enforcement pro- remain part of a for-profit
Judge William Alsup said of a new CEO, Bill Johnson, cess that could allow the company that faces con-
PG&E. and overhauling its board regulatory agency to re- tinual pressure from inves-
He delivered the harsh re- of directors last April. voke PG&E's license if it tors to boost its stock price
buke of the nation's largest After scolding the utility for failed to comply. by making more money.
utility during a court hearing its neglect, Alsup compli- "I am very concerned "We are in a critical chap-
to review how well PG&E mented its new manage- about PG&E's pattern of ter," Alsup said.
has complied with the ment team for deliberately safety-related failures," Newsom has threatened
terms of a five-year criminal turning off power to as commission President Ma- to lead an government-
probation imposed after its many as 2 million people rybel Batjer wrote Tuesday. backed attempt to take
natural gas lines blew up last fall to prevent wildfires Batjer's words largely over PG&E unless it bends
a San Francisco Bay Area during hot, windy weather. echoed those of Gov. to his demands, which in-
neighborhood and killed Although the outages infuri- Gavin Newsom, who ap- clude replacing the com-
eight people in 2010. The ated and inconvenienced pointed her last year. Since pany's entire 14-member
utility was convicted of six people, the judge said he December, Newsom has board, including Johnson.
felony counts of falsifying believes they may have tried to pressure PG&E into PG&E has promised to re-
records and safety viola- prevented dozens more taking more radical steps shuffle at least part of its
tions in 2016. potentially deadly fires. to change its culture and board and is in talks with
Alsup blasted PG&E for its "They deserve some credit reduce its debt when it Newsom's representatives
abysmal track record since (for the outages) and hav- comes out of bankruptcy about other possible con-
its probation began in ing the courage to do it in so it can afford to invest an cessions.
January 2017. In that time, the face of all the criticism," estimated $40 billion into But the company is commit-
PG&E's aging power lines Alsup said. upgrading its decaying ted to remaining a for-profit
have been blamed for ig- As another firefighting electrical grid during the company, a point it punc-
niting a series of wildfires measure, Alsup said he next decade. tuated this week when it
that killed nearly 130 peo- plans to order PG&E to Newsom and Batjer have released five-year projec-
ple and destroyed thou- expand its tree-trimming unusual leverage over tions that it would earn
sands of homes. force from roughly 5,400 PG&E because the com- nearly $2.4 billion in 2024
The aftermath saddled contractors to 6,500 to help pany needs California to — the most in its history. The
PG&E with more than $50 prevent vegetation from approve its reorganization company has lost $14.5 bil-
billion in potential liabilities, falling onto its power lines plan to emerge from bank- lion in the past two years as
driving the San Francisco and igniting. ruptcy by June 30 so it can it deals with the devasta-
company into bankruptcy Alsup did not set a timeline qualify for coverage from a tion from wildfires.q

14-year-olds plead not guilty

in NYC college student's death

NEW YORK (AP) — Two Majors during a Dec. 11
14-year-old boys pleaded robbery and that Luchiano
not guilty Wednesday to Lewis prevented her from
murder in the death of a escaping as she called for
Barnard College student help.
who was fatally stabbed A 13-year-old has also
during a robbery in a park. been charge, but his name Inman Majors, father of Barnard College student Tessa Majors
Manhattan prosecutors has not been released be- who was fatally stabbed during a robbery in December, arrives
said that Rashaun Weaver cause he is being tried as a at court, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, in New York.
stabbed 18-year-old Tessa juvenile. q Associated Press