Cal Fire says Tubbs fire caused by private electrical system, not PG&E

Cal Fire has announced that the 2017 Tubbs fire was ignited by a private electrical system adjacent to a residential structure and not PG&E equipment as had been widely suspected in the inferno’s wake.

The long-awaited findings were made public just after noon Thursday in a Cal Fire news release that also said investigators found no violation of state law related to the cause of the wildfire.

Cal Fire says Tubbs fire caused by private electrical system, not PG&E

Even if it turns out PG&E didn't start any of the fires, it looks like the courts are going to make them spend massive amounts of money. Guess who the costs will get passed on to?

PG&E claims rates could skyrocket five-fold if ordered to clear trees, inspect electricity system

PG&E warned in a new court filing that it would have to spend at least $75 billion, hire 650,000 workers — and increase monthly utility bills by a huge amount — if it’s forced to comply with a federal judge’s proposed order for a massive maintenance and inspection effort for its electricity grid.

The warnings by the embattled and cash-strapped utility, which has staggered to the brink of insolvency, were contained in a lengthy response ahead of a hearing in U.S. District Court next week.

Federal Judge William Alsup has signaled he may order PG&E to undertake a thorough inspection of its electricity grid and to launch a wide-ranging vegetation management plan ahead of the upcoming 2019 fire season in Northern California. Alsup is supervising the company’s probation connected with PG&E’s conviction for felonies the company committed before and after a fatal gas explosion in 2010 that killed eight and destroyed a San Bruno neighborhood.

“The resources required to comply with the (judge’s proposed order) do not exist,” PG&E stated in a federal court filing. “PG&E does not have the necessary funds. Were PG&E allowed to pass on the costs, the rate increases would be oppressive.”

Great news for investors, shares shot up 75 percent.

Some "good timing" by a few on the market for sure.

I wish I hobnobbed with the right people, would love to hear those wonderful whispers that rakes in the millions.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

Isn't the company about to begin bankruptcy proceedings ? Or has that changed as a result of this news? I'm pretty sure they're still toast

ETA: Yep, they probably are still bankrupt. So why would stock price skyrocket 75%? Algorithms, high-frequency trading and algos is my guess!

Experts: PG&E bankruptcy likely despite positive fire report

a reply to: FamCore

People are still going to need power and I am sure the PG&E facility's are going to continue to be the main producers. It is still odd the stock went up that much.

originally posted by: LookingAtMars
a reply to: FamCore

People are still going to need power and I am sure the PG&E facility's are going to continue to be the main producers. It is still odd the stock went up that much.

Not really, the stock market consists of largely big money(individuals and firms) that are speculative.

Singular news points can result in large movement and trend changes. This is why insider trading is such a huge problem.

a reply to: FamCore
different kinds of bankruptcy mean different things. In the case of a business like PG&E, it probably means a bailout by the government of California. Since the service they provide, and property they own are all needed, a bankruptcy means that they will just cull all of the parts of their business that cost money to run. AKA, dumping the non-profitable parts onto the government and citizens, and all of the profitable parts either separated off into a different company (and stock owners would get stock in them), or bought up by competitors (and stock owners would be bought out).

Interesting thing about power generation and transportation. The reason why the private sector is not upgrading their infrastructure is because they don't make any money on it due to having a common network with other providers. Instead it actively costs them money to own and upkeep the network, and they would gladly get rid of the ownership of it. Many electrical producers are trying to do so.