PG&E likely faces hearing on whether it violated probation

A U.S. judge in San Francisco indicated Thursday he would likely order Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to face an evidentiary hearing on whether it violated the terms of criminal probation by causing fires in 2019 and 2020, including involuntary manslaughter in violation of state law.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup set a hearing for Jan. 3 for the utility to admit or deny the charges. If the company denies the allegations, he will set an evidentiary hearing the following week.

PG&E was sentenced on Jan. 26, 2017 to pay the maximum fine of $3 million and the maximum of five years probation after a federal court found it was guilty of six felonies for violating parts of the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act and obstructing a National Transportation Safety Board investigation. This case was about the natural gas pipeline that exploded in San Bruno in September 2010.

As part of the probation, a monitorship was imposed on PG&E to prevent any further criminal conduct. The probation is set to end in January 2022, but district attorneys in Shasta and Sonoma counties have charged PG&E in state court with multiple misdemeanors and felonies.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Benjamin Hanna said, "PG&E is currently criminally charged in Shasta County with several counts related to the September 2020 Zogg fire. We have them charged with several counts of recklessly causing a fire as well as four counts of involuntary manslaughter because of the four individuals that died in the fire as a result of PG&E's actions. ... We believe that there is sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that PG&E is criminally responsible for the Zogg fire."

Cal Fire investigators found that broken PG&E equipment that should have been de-energized as well as untrimmed trees that were supposed to be managed by PG&E were the cause of the 2019 Kincade fire.

In June 2020, PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for its role in causing the 2018 Camp fire, which decimated the town of Paradise and was the deadliest wildfire in California history. PG&E has also civilly settled with Shasta and Sonoma counties for a total of $43 million in damages, but that does not stop them from being found criminally liable for the fires.

Alsup, who said in a February hearing that "PG&E has been a terror -- t-e-r-r-o-r -- to the people of California," oversees PG&E's criminal probation. He stated in September that the probation could not be extended. There is no code or case law precedent for extending a corporate criminal defendant's probation past five years, although probation is an option Sonoma or Shasta county could pursue if PG&E is convicted.

However, Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie A. Bridgett has indicated she will seek restitution and remedial measures.

Another issue is that PG&E can refuse probation under state law and corporations cannot be jailed if they violate probation. Alsup also has the option to revoke PG&E's corporate charter for a quasi-prison sentence but he has indicated he is against that as it is a dramatic move.