PG&E Plans To File For Bankruptcy Over Possible Liability In California Wildfires

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Enjoy it

It was his "Blind Squirrel" moment.

Nope, he actually was totally aware of the facts of the issue. More like the squirrel took off the blinders and looked around and saw where the nuts were, what kind they were, and how many.

 

[Fledermaus]

Nope, he actually was totally aware of the facts of the issue. More like the squirrel took off the blinders and looked around and saw where the nuts were, what kind they were, and how many.

You will have to take a look at some of DaveFagan's greatest hits....

I have often asked him when he gets his *special* version of history from.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

You will have to take a look at some of DaveFagan's greatest hits....

I have often asked him when he gets his *special* version of history from.

I'm a participating member here just like you, I've read Fagan's posts.
I am only talking about PG&E, not other issues.

 

[Fledermaus]

I'm a participating member here just like you, I've read Fagan's posts.
I am only talking about PG&E, not other issues.

And we agree he is "dead on balls accurate" on this one....

 

[Deuce]

How much is the executive compensation relative to the $30 billion that California law seems to suggest should be pinned on the company?

...why is this a comparison to make?

 

[Neomalthusian]

...why is this a comparison to make?

Because it reveals the absurdity of trying to distract the issue at hand to somehow be about executive greed.

 

[mike2810]

I would bet the filing mostly hinged on the number of civil suits.

"A dozen of the fires that started in Northern California around October 8, 2017 have been blamed on PG&E’s electrical equipment, according to CAL FIRE investigators, who also are looking into power line equipment failures that may have caused the Camp Fire on November 8, 2018. Over 40 people died in the Northern California fires, and 86 perished in the Camp Fire which also destroyed more than 14,000 homes.

The bankruptcy process would put a halt to more than 750 civil suits brought by thousands of homeowners and insurance companies over the wildfires allegedly caused by PG&E’s equipment, some of it 100 years old. The suits would then be resolved in a bankruptcy proceeding."
https://wildfiretoday.com/2019/01/15/facing-liability-over-wildfires-pge-to-file-for-bankruptcy/

 

[Deuce]

Because it reveals the absurdity of trying to distract the issue at hand to somehow be about executive greed.

So, someone says "they intentionally compromised safety to make a few extra bucks and the result was billions in damages"

And your interpretation is that this... doesn't demonstrate greed?

 

[Neomalthusian]

So, someone says "they intentionally compromised safety to make a few extra bucks and the result was billions in damages"

And your interpretation is that this... doesn't demonstrate greed?

My interpretation is that attempting to make this problem about executive greed is imbecilic Marxist claptrap. It attempts to narrow the focus of the issue onto an amount of money that is infinitesimally negligible within the overall context of the current situation.

The current issue is California's state government created laws that require pinning bankruptcy-inducing liabilities on its CPUC-regulated utility company, under the absurd pretense of somehow not burdening California residents with the costs of the utilities they inexorably must cover. The state can create the conditions for a publicly owned utility to replace PG&E (I have no dog in that fight), but all the same will still apply--the cost of providing the utility to the state's residents are invariably borne by the residents.

 

[Deuce]

My interpretation is that attempting to make this problem about executive greed is imbecilic Marxist claptrap. It attempts to narrow the focus of the issue onto an amount of money that is infinitesimally negligible within the overall context of the current situation.

The current issue is California's state government created laws that require pinning bankruptcy-inducing liabilities on its CPUC-regulated utility company, under the absurd pretense of somehow not burdening California residents with the costs of the utilities they inexorably must cover. The state can create the conditions for a publicly owned utility to replace PG&E (I have no dog in that fight), but all the same will still apply--the cost of providing the utility to the state's residents are invariably borne by the residents.

For some reason you think the value of the compensation would have to exceed the value of the damage to be an issue, and that is confounding.

 

[Neomalthusian]

For some reason you think the value of the compensation would have to exceed the value of the damage to be an issue and that is confounding.

It isn't the issue, and relative to the significance of the current situation, it's not even an issue.

 

[mike2810]

So, someone says "they intentionally compromised safety to make a few extra bucks and the result was billions in damages"

And your interpretation is that this... doesn't demonstrate greed?

- Couldn't one say that homeowners who "intentionally" made a decision not to Firewise their property are greedy with no concern for their neighbors?

- Couldn't one say that developers who intentionally place high density housing in fire prone areas greedy?

- Couldn't one say that local government who want the tax dollars from developers and sale of homes are greedy when they intentionally allow communities to be build in fire prone areas with no Firewise code for the buildings or landscaping?

- Couldn't one say the State government are greedy for the same reason as the local governments?

The loss of homes, personal property and lives during a wildfire is tragic. I am not blaming the victims outright. I will say that Firewise standards and practices have been preached for many years. So many people ignore what was being said. It is not just the wildfires and the ember wash that sometimes results. It only takes one house in a high density housing to catch fire on a windy day to put all homes at risk.

Homeowners, local elected officials, utilities, fire managers and developers all need to work together when building in fire prone areas. The cost has been shown that it is not any more to firewise a house than not to firewise.