P.G. & E. Corporate Greed

Or Profit Over Everything Else

Ken Hale is a retired Cal Fire Local 2881 Battalion Chief, and a current board member of Stop PG$E Now.

The Trauner Fire of 1994 burned 12 houses down. As the chief investigator on that fire, I discovered email from PG&E management that stated to field employees, “It is cheaper to pay the fines than it is to trim the trees. We also discovered that PG&E had moved around half a billion dollar from maintenance to profit. This was money that PG&E had presented to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) as critical money to keep their system operating. In 1997, PG&E was convicted of 739 criminal counts for violations of PRC 4293 (high voltage line clearance from vegetation) and PRC 4292 (ten foot pole clearance requirement). During the Trauner Fire investigation, we did spot inspections on powerlines in both Nevada County and Placer County. These inspections only lasted a week. In Nevada County, 745 criminal violations were found, with the above results. Another 750+ criminal violations were found in Placer County. Nevada County prosecuted the violations within the boundaries of the county. Placer County did nothing. It must be emphasized that both of these inspection programs occurred simultaneously and lasted one week. The next year, in 1998, tree trimming violations were investigated by the CPUC. After this investigation, PG&E and the CPUC entered into an agreement that was supposed to improve PG&E vegetation management practices up to an acceptable level. It failed, as the following table shows. These numbers cover the last nine-years.

The following is a summary of PG&E caused wildfires (from Cal Fire Redbooks for the appropriate year):

Year	Wildfires	Acres	Structures Destroyed	Fatalities
2015	252	72,478	967	0
2016	270	1,035	1	0
2017	4491	281,893	8,990	44
2018	3222	159,408	18,868	85
2019	266	83,127	374	0
2020	251	65,087	208	4
2021	238	974,0833	1,323	1
2022	204	76,788	78	0
2023	158	6,186	8	0
2024	Unknown4
Totals	2,410	1,720,085	30,817

Fires and Other Crimes

In 2015, PG&E started the Butte Fire in Amador County which burned 70,868 acres. This conflagration killed 2 people and burned down numerous houses. California courts found PG&E negligently caused this fire. An untrimmed and inspected pine trees sagged into the powerlines⁵ and made direct contact with the conductor. In the nine year period that ended with 2023 (statistics for 2024 are not available yet), PG&E was responsible for causing 2,410 wildfires in California. During the Butte Fire trial, it was learned that PG&E inspectors had been reporting false numbers of vegetation passing those inspections. As reported in court, PG&E was comfortable with the fact that one tree in one hundred was in violation. One percent equals over 500,000 trees in violation of the law. All of these 550,000 trees were potential causes of major fires. PG&E has estimated that over 55,000,000 trees are within its territory.⁶ It should be noted that every one of these 550,000 violations is a criminal violation under California law.⁷

In 2007, during the PG&E rate case before the CPUC, in response to a Cal Fire (CDF) demand that PG&E spend the money to be in compliance with PRC secs 4292 and 4293, PG&E stated “this work is unwarranted”.⁸

In 2008, CPUC began a remapping program for powerline danger zones. When completed this study would have cost PG&E (and the other investor owned utilities) a great deal of money in more comprehensive vegetation management. PG&E opposed the entire process and managed to delay it for almost ten years. By increasing danger zone designations, the cost of maintenance to the investor owned power companies was going to increase dramatically, so PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E dragged their feet, not for the safety of the public, but to save money and increase profit. This process of delay, delay, delay, continued for ten years, until two days before Tubbs, Nuns, Atlas, and Mendocino Fires broke out in 2017 and once again succeeded in getting another one year delay from the CPUC. Powerlines in the very hazardous areas that were being created by the remapping project would have to be inspected for clearance, etc. much more often than before remapping,⁹ something that would cost much more money, so PG&E et al, opposed it.

On April 25 th , 2017, the CPUC cited PG&E for “failing to maintain its 12kv overhead conductor safely and properly and causing the Butte Fire”. The $8,000,000 fine came as a result of this finding.¹⁰

In all of the instances cited above, PG&E had been informed over and over again of the company’s inadequacies regarding power line maintenance and clearance programs but failed to act. As stated above, it was cheaper to pay the fines than pay to trim the trees.

In May of 2016, a massive cyber breach was reported that posed a substantial risk to the Bulk Power System (electrical transmission system for the entire country). After weeks of negotiation with the unidentified culprit of this data breach, FERC assessed a fine of $2,700,000.00. Some weeks later the culprit was identified as PG&E. The corporation was trying to cover up its culpability by any means it determined useful.¹¹

On August 9th , 2016, PG&E was found guilty in federal court of obstructing an investigation into illegal actions it had taken before the gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, California and of falsification of documents. The company was also found guilty of willfully failing to prioritize as high risk the threatened pipelines among other criminal convictions.¹² It is mentioned here to portray the criminality of the corporate structure at PG&E. There are numerous other side issues that do the same.

In October of 2017, winds picked up in the California Wine Country. These winds were strong, but not especially noteworthy¹³ from a firefighting standpoint. Tree branches came in contact with distribution lines in PG&Es electrical system. In the period of about three hours, seven major fires were ignited. In the next three weeks, hundreds of thousands of acres were consumed, 44 people burned to death, and 8,990 houses and other structures burned to the ground, all because PG&E failed to trim the trees as they had been told to do repeatedly during this period.

Camp Fire took off from a canyon below the town of Paradise, California at 0629 hrs. on November 8th, 2018. The steel tower and ring supporting the 115,000 volt powerline were constructed in 1919. There are no records of maintenance for 99 years. The mechanisms holding the transmission power line to the steel tower structure broke due to wear and age. This allowed the 115,000-volt transmission line to contact the tower itself . That contact resulted in arcing that showered the initial origin with molten steel and aluminum. The resulting fire incinerated at least 85 people. It destroyed 18,809 homes and commercial structures.¹⁴ According to estimates, 95% of Paradise was consumed by Camp Fire.

Late October of 2019 brought us the Kincade Fire near Santa Rosa. This fire was caused by another transmission line. The fire burned 77,758 acres, turned 374 homes to ashes, and seriously injured 4 people.¹⁵ This fire was caused by a broken jumper cable on one of the transmission towers. Once again, lack of maintenance was a major factor in igniting this fire.

2020 brings us Zogg Fire. On September 27 th , a leaning tree that had been marked for removal more than a year before finally fell into the PG&E distribution line.¹⁶ The resulting fire burned 55,338 acres, turned 208 homes and other structures to ash, and incinerated 4 people including an 8-year-old girl and her mother. PG&E claimed the property owner would not allow the tree to be removed. This is complete nonsense since the company removed three trees in the same, immediate area. The tree trimming budget was cut, so the tree remained where it was until it fell into the powerline.

On July 13th , 2021, Dixie Fire ignited when another tree fell onto a distribution powerline in Butte County. This fire burned 963,309 acres, making it the largest fire in California history. As it raged east, it turned 1,311 houses into ash, including most of the town of Greenville, and it incinerated one firefighter.¹⁷

On September 6th , 2022, Mosquito Fire took off in Tahoe National Forest. This fire burned 76,788 acres, and burned down 78 homes and other structures.¹⁸ Fire was caused by a PG&E equipment failure.

Investigations

I started investigating PG&E in 1994. Since then, it has been an on again-off again part of my career. I have come to firm conclusion that those in charge of PG&E portray to the public how law abiding and concerned they are for the citizens of California. In all the official utterance I reviewed, PG&E always put forth an image that the corporation was following the law and was solid with regard to how they went about their business. It is a rosy picture they paint. The reality is something entirely different. PG&E thinks it can manipulate governmental agencies like Cal Fire and the CPUC. It has been largely successful. All of the units in Cal Fire in PG&E territory were contacted by me with a PRA demanding production of all citations written in the last ten years. Not a single unit had cited PG&E even though the company has a history of not maintaining its system to such an extent it has caused many major fires and other disasters. During this time span, PG&E had numerous violations, some of which resulted in fires and deaths. A few Cal Fire units had written some LE38s, which is a written warning, but that was it. PG&E has purchased Cal Fire’s silence by building at least one multi-million dollar equipment shop at one of our fire stations.

Collusion with some members of the CPUC is probably worse. According to news sources, PG&E was having conversations with high CPUC officers behind the scenes on subjects that directly affected PG&Es operations and profit. So, PG&E put on a good public face while they knew their system was at extreme risk. This is how they do business. They convince stockholders that they are doing a great job, then give themselves bonuses at the expense of gas line safety or electrical distribution. Corruption by any other name is still corruption.

Violation notifications included are for PUC GO 95, GO 165, and PRC secs. 4292 and 4293, as well as H&S 13001 and 13009. Even those the documents supplied by Cal Fire were only warnings, these documents indicate that PG&E has been aware of violations for a minimum of thirty years.

On November 6th and 7th , 2018 PG&E notified me here in Nevada County that there was a likely public safety power shut down (PSPS) coming on November 8th due to predicted critical fire weather. This same warning went out to residents in Butte, Plumas, and Yuba counties, among others. According to The National Weather Service, winds for November 8 th were predicted in 20-25 mph range¹⁹ with gusts to 35 – 40 mph. This wind event was predicted to begin at about 0600 hrs. on November 8 th . Even though PG&E had already shut the power off at two locations on October 14 th , 2018 for predicted extreme fire weather, that weather was less extreme than that predicted for the Paradise area²⁰. PG&E did not turn the power off on the Caribou-Palermo transmission line on the morning of November 8 th . After the fire ignited under the Caribou line, PG&E publicly claimed that they would not have shut the transmission line down in any case. Their actions in October of 2017 in both the wine country and the central Sierra belie the corporate position of not turning off transmission lines, as during that shut-down PG&E turned off numerous transmission lines during the October PSPS. Shutting down transmission lines is very, very expensive to the PG&E corporation, so they have a very bad tendency to not shut them off regardless of the conditions surrounding those transmission lines.

The Caribou-Palermo transmission line was constructed in 1919, so these structures are about a century old. Maintenance of the tower structures on this line appears to have been lacking. In December of 2012, five of the lattice steel towers fell to the ground during a storm. These towers were in the vicinity of the tower that started the Camp Fire. I was unable to uncover any record of PG&E maintenance on these structures from any reports provided to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). There is a meeting note from CPUC regarding the repair of the downed towers, but nothing else. Also, the tower that caused the Camp Fire is warn and old, as were the power lines and hardware that actually caused the fire.

Profit Over Safety

In 2023, PG&E made $2.26 billion net profit. SCE made $1.597 billion, and SDG&E netted $936 million. Each of these companies is a monopoly, they have no competition, and we have no choice when it comes to who supplies our electricity.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) was created to combat the political power Southern Pacific Railroad held over California in 1911. Public outrage at Southern Pacific abuses created the CPUC. Laws were added to the State constitution in 1912 for CPUC to oversee all utilities in California. These laws also allow the monopolies enjoyed by the Big Three. They have no competition, not even with each other.

CPUC was created to ensure that utility rates were fair. It is supposed to be watching our backs. The opposite appears to be true. Take PG&E for example. PG&E has been granted four rate increases this year alone. In the last decade PG&E rates have increased 110%, more than doubling our electric bills. PG&E claims these increases are due to inflation, and improvements to wildfire mitigation efforts. I submit this is nonsense. From 2011 to 2013, PG&E net profit was about $840,000,000 per year. Profits of $2.26 billion are a 170% increase. Inflation increased 34.65% during the same period.

PG&E has known for years that aging powerlines, especially those made from copper and aluminum are very prone to breakage. A substantial portion of the actual LE 66s reviewed were fires caused by powerlines that simply broke and fell on the ground. Checking the wind speed section of the LE 66 forms collected has revealed that many times there was no wind whatsoever. No tree limbs fell to take the lines down. There were no reasons for the powerline to fall other than age and inferior composition. PG&E has 97,682 miles of distribution lines and 18,488 miles for transmission . According to the 2013 Liberty Report to the CPUC, PG&E had at that time approximately 22,000 miles of obsolete #6 copper still hanging from its poles. In addition, the company had 47,542 miles of Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced (ACSR) wire still in use. These two types of conductors have been in use by PG&E well past their useful life expectancy. The failure rate for #6 copper wire is 330% greater than for current types of high voltage conductors. The failure rate for #4 ACSR is 400% higher than current conductors . So, 69,524 miles of powerline, or approximately 60% of PG&Es total system, is comprised of aging wires that should have been replaced years ago. These lines have been awaiting replacement for many years, but this maintenance has been deferred over and over again to save money and increase profits. One CPUC estimate stated that PG&E powerline replacement was somewhere around 30 years behind schedule.

There are several other areas where PG&E negligent maintenance has caused wildfires. These include old transformers catching fire, dust buildup on insulators, power poles that are so old they simply fall over from rot and age, fuses that blow for no apparent reason, and broken insulators. Most of these fires can be traced to maintenance that was not done to save money and move it to profit.

In addition, PG&E has refused to go to insulated overhead powerlines in forested areas. Insulated lines would be far less prone to fires caused by tree branches coming into contact with the bare conductors they currently use. Instead, PG&E has gone to a highly advertised program of undergrounding lines in hazardous areas. Instead of protecting its customers with insulated powerlines, PG&E has opted for very slowly undergrounding distribution powerlines in mountainous areas. The primary reason for this choice is profit. Undergrounding is subsidized by rate payers so PG&E makes a very tidy profit, especially since they use some of the most expensive methods to accomplish this task. With insulated wire, the process is too easy. There is very little profit connected to it. With over 25,000 miles of distribution line in high fire danger areas, undergrounding will take about a half a century at the rate PG&E is doing it now. Their television ads stating how they are doing this to protect us all from further fires is complete nonsense. The more one dives into the internal workings of this corporation, the more disgusting the facts become.

March 6th, 2024, PG&E discovered major leaks in aging pipes at Spaulding powerhouse. Repairs were supposed to be completed by the end of summer, 2024. Water supplies critical to agriculture have been drastically reduced Dam and now the repairs will probably not be completed until sometime in 2026. This item is included to illustrate PG&E management’s attitude of “Use It Until It Breaks!” This attitude permeates the company and is the cause of many major disasters.

PG&E Wildfire Mitigation Efforts

Let’s examine PG&E’s wildfire mitigation effort beginning with the 1994 Trauner Fire in Nevada County. I was the chief investigator on this fire. It ignited when an untrimmed tree contacted PG&E powerlines. Additional violations came from weeklong Cal Fire powerline inspections, one in Nevada County and one in Placer County. Total violations we found in both counties totaled over 1,500. There were hundreds of violations we did not find, and we only looked at two counties. The Nevada County trial resulted in 739 criminal convictions. After the trial, PG&E made some progress. By 2009, the number of powerline fires declined from about 200 fires per year to 20. In 2011, PG&E instituted a new tree trimming program called “March to a Million.”²¹ The aim of this program was to trim a million trees per year. Sounds great, but in 2009, 1.7 million trees were trimmed. The aim of March to a Million was to cut tree trimming almost in half to save money. This money was moved to executive bonuses. By 2017, under March to a Million and its successor, “Just in Time Tree Trimming”, PG&E fires exploded to 408 per year including all the major fires listed above and many, many more. This is a “criminal company” to use the statements by William Alsup, Federal Judge in charge of the San Bruno gas explosion.

Since 2015, in mountainous areas, PG&E has caused 2,410 fires, destroyed 30,817 structures, and incinerated at least 135 people. This company has a long history of gutting maintenance in favor of profit. During the Trauner Fire investigation, we discovered that PG&E had moved nearly $500,000,000 from maintenance and tree trimming to profit and executive bonuses. In 2012, CPUC found PG&E had diverted over $100,000,000 from maintenance and safety and again moved the money to executive bonuses and profit. These are the ones we know about. Over the last 30 years, PG&E has undoubtedly moved hundreds of millions more to profit and bonuses. During the San Bruno gas explosion trial, Federal Judge William Alsup called PG&E a criminal organization. He said that profit was all that mattered to corporate executives. Safety was window dressing. As PG&E’s court ordered probation for the San Bruno gas explosion came to an end, Judge Alsup said that the purpose of probation for a criminal offender was to rehabilitate the criminal. He stated that in the case of PG&E, he had failed and that PG&E presented a very substantial threat to the citizens of California at the end of its probation.

1. Electrical fires in the wildland burned 249,501 acres in 2017 or 53% of the total acreage burned in California, Cal Fire Redbook, 2017. ↩︎
2. Electrical fires in the wildland burned 246,873 acres in 2018 or 23% of the total acreage burned in California, Cal Fire Redbook, 2018 ↩︎
3. Fire Redbook, 2021, fires caused by PG&E amounted to 74% of the total acreage burned statewide. ↩︎
4. Red Book statistics unavailable as of May 5th , 2024 ↩︎
5. Cal Fire Investigation of Butte Fire, Butte Fire Information, Cal Fire website Oct. 2015 ↩︎
6. http://firejustice.com/pge-allowed-500000-violations-of-state-law-in-tree-trimming/ ↩︎
7. PRC 4293, Line clearance from trees ↩︎
8. CPUC General Rate Case (GRC) Decision 07-03-044, March 15, 2007, pg 52, Recovery of CDF Mandated Costs ↩︎
9. Up in Smoke, San Jose Mercury News article, Oct. 21st, 2017 ↩︎
10. CPUC decision 16-09-55, April 25th , 2017 ↩︎
11. http://michaelmabee.info/pge-endangered-the-grid/ ↩︎
12. The United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California, News Release, August 9th , 2016 ↩︎
13. RAWS data, October 8th and 9th , 2017, 2 pages. ↩︎
14. Cal Fire Redbook, 2018, Camp Fire, pg. 9. ↩︎
15. Cal Fire Redbook, 2019, Kincade Fire, pg. 9. ↩︎
16. Cal Fire Redbook, 2020, Zogg Fire, pg. 10. ↩︎
17. Cal Fire Redbook, 2021, Dixie Fire, pg. 8. ↩︎
18. Cal Fire Redbook, 2022, Mosquito Fire, pg. 1. ↩︎
19. NWS Red Flag Warning, November 8 th , 2018, Jarbo Gap RAWS (5 to 6 miles from the point of origin) ↩︎
20. NWS Red Flag Warning, October 14 th , 2018, Hawkeye RAWS ↩︎
21. NBCBayArea.com, July 14, 2022, Critics Say PG&E Fire Prevention Plan Prioritized Executive Bonuses Over
    Safety and CPUC records. ↩︎