PG&E sees cost to comply with judge's wildfire plan at $75 bln-$150 bln

In this article:

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - California power company PG&E Corp, which expects to soon file for bankruptcy, said on Wednesday it would cost between $75 billion and $150 billion to fully comply with a judge's order to inspect its power grid and remove or trim trees that could fall into power lines and trigger wildfires.

PG&E in a filing in U.S. District Court in San Francisco said it could not on its own afford the work proposed in a Jan. 9 order by U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who is overseeing conditions of the company's probation following a 2010 gas pipeline explosion. To pay for the proposed work, PG&E said it would have to pass the bill to ratepayers who get their power from the company's nearly 100,000 miles of overhead lines in northern California. (Reporting by Jim Christie)

Advertisement