115-548: PGE may refer to: Pacific Gas and Electric Company , commonly abbreviated PG&E Pacific Gas & Electric (band) , an American blues rock band Pacific Great Eastern Railway , the original name of BC Rail Parser Grammar Engine , Perl 6 rule compiler/interpreter for the Parrot virtual machine Platinum group element Polska Grupa Energetyczna Portland General Electric PGE Park Programme Grande École ,
230-465: A moratorium on new home construction in fire-prone areas. In September 2009 however, the Butte County Board of Supervisors called the grand jury report "not reasonable", citing improved building codes and fire prevention requirements as arguments against a moratorium. Despite these reports, Paradise city planners did not include study results in new plans. In 2009, the town of Paradise proposed
345-683: A 502-mile main that connected with the El Paso network at the state line. During this period of expansion PG&E was involved in legal proceedings with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the company's status as a subsidiary of the North American Company . As outlined by the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 , a utility subsidiary was defined as a utility company with more than 10% of their stock held by
460-504: A Butte County civil grand jury report concluded that the roads leading from Paradise and Upper Ridge communities had "significant constraints" and "capacity limitations" on their use as evacuation routes. The report noted a combination of road conditions "which increases the fire danger and the possibility of being closed due to fire and or smoke", namely sharp curves, inadequate shoulders, and fire hazards adjacent to shoulders, such as "fire fuel and steep slopes". The report also recommended
575-550: A French master's degree diploma Propylene glycol ether Prostaglandin E Provisional Government of Eritrea Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title PGE . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=PGE&oldid=1258476003 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
690-784: A New York investment firm. In return, North American received shares of PG&E's common stock worth $ 114 million. PG&E also gained control of two smaller utilities, Midland Counties Public Service and the Fresno Water Company, which was later sold. The acquisition of these utilities did not result in an immediate merger of property and personnel. The Great Western Power Company and the San Joaquin Company remained separate corporate entities for several more years. But through this final major consolidation, PG&E soon served nearly all of Northern and Central California through one integrated system. The gas industry market structure
805-561: A central generating station for electric customers. To stay competitive, the San Francisco Gas Light Company introduced the Argand lamp that same year. The lamp increased the light capacity of gas street lamps, but proved to be an expensive improvement and was not generally adopted. Meanwhile, the demand for electric light in the stores and factories of downtown San Francisco continued to grow. The first electric street light
920-467: A dirt road surrounded by barbed wire as the fire encroached. In the second, a fire captain and a firefighter received face and neck burns on November 9 when a propane tank exploded as they were defending a house from the fire. Summary of impact on population and first responders reported by Cal Fire. The fire forced the evacuation of Paradise , Magalia , Centerville , Concow , Pulga , Butte Creek Canyon , Berry Creek and Yankee Hill and threatened
1035-555: A limited capacity. The request remained unresolved until 1945 when the North American Company sold off stocks that brought its ownership to below 10%. The SEC then ruled that PG&E was not a subsidiary of the North American Company. In 1948, the North American Company sold its remaining stock in PG&;E. In 1957, the company brought online Vallecitos Nuclear Center , the first privately owned and operated nuclear reactor in
1150-456: A loss of 17 cell towers. Thousands of calls to 9-1-1 inundated two emergency dispatchers on duty. Emergency alerts suffered human error as city officials failed to include four at-risk areas of the city in evacuation orders and technical error as emergency alerts failed to reach 94 percent of residents in some areas and even in areas with the highest success still failed to reach 25 percent of those residents signed up. At about 1:00 p.m.,
1265-592: A mandatory evacuation, and should collect their belongings and leave. By 8:20 a.m., the Paradise 911 dispatch center had received 132 calls about the fire and, overwhelmed by the sheer quantity, began forwarding them to the dispatch center in Chico. The main fire front reached Paradise at 8:30 a.m. between Apple View Way and Merrill Road. At this point it was approximately 0.6 miles (1 km) across, and shortly thereafter grew to two miles (2.8 km) wide as it grew to
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#17328456793601380-808: A modern coal-gas plant as a hedge against shortages in the supply of oil. In 1891, the North Beach Gas Works was completed under the direction of San Francisco Gas Light president and engineer Joseph B. Crockett. The facility was the largest gas holder in the U.S. west of Chicago. In 1896, the Edison Light and Power Company merged with the San Francisco Gas Light Company to form the new San Francisco Gas and Electric Company. Consolidation of gas and electric companies solved problems for both utilities by eliminating competition and producing economic savings through joint operation. Other companies that began operation as active competitors but eventually merged into
1495-503: A public utility holding company. Though 17% of PG&E stock was held by the North American Company at this time, PG&E filed with the SEC to be exempted from subsidiary status on the grounds that 17% ownership did not give the North American Company control and because the North American Company occupied only two board member spots. The North American Company backed PG&E's request by stating that they were involved in business operations in
1610-525: A reduced number of travel lanes on the roadways and received state funding from the California Department of Transportation to implement a road diet along Skyway, Pearson Road, and Clark Road, three of the town's main thoroughfares and evacuation routes. Paradise planners opted in March 2015 to convert Skyway into a one-way route during emergencies, effectively doubling its capacity. Despite this change,
1725-408: A reporting location. The fire was named after Camp Creek Road, near its place of origin. The road was unpaved and poorly maintained; it had taken one of McKenzie's engines an hour to travel one mile (1.6 km) along it during a previous fire. McKenzie requested that Cal Fire activate its aircraft earlier than their scheduled 8:00 a.m. flight time, and requested more personnel to try and stop
1840-731: A reservoir to escape the flames. Butte County Sheriff's Department initially reported a partial death count for each community (total 67): 50 in Paradise , seven in Concow , nine in Magalia , and one in Chico . Five firefighters were injured during two separate incidents in the first two days of the Camp Fire. In the first, one fire captain and two prison inmate firefighters were seriously burned on their upper bodies on November 8 when shifting winds trapped them on
1955-456: A result, the state also lost significant amounts of money. The crisis cost PG&E and the state somewhere between $ 40 and $ 45 billion. PG&E Company, the utility, emerged from bankruptcy in April 2004, after paying $ 10.2 billion to its hundreds of creditors. As part of the reorganization, PG&E's 5.1 million electricity customers will have to pay above-market prices for several years to cancel
2070-440: A shift to energy conservation and alternative energy sources alone could slake the thirst for electricity". As of December 1992, PG&E operated 173 electric generating units and 85 generating stations, 18,450 miles (29,690 km) of transmission lines and 101,400 miles (163,200 km) of distribution system. In 1997, PG&E reorganized as a holding company, PG&E Corporation. It consisted of two subsidiaries—PG&E,
2185-490: A subsidiary, Federal Engineering), Phillips Petroleum , and Mack Trucks , were buying streetcar lines and rapidly converting most of them to bus service. This consortium was convicted in 1949 of federal charges involving conspiracy to monopolize interstate commerce in the sale of buses and supplies to National City Lines and its subsidiaries. The actions became known as the Great American Streetcar Scandal or
2300-595: A transmission corridor PG&E built. With a critical power shortage, rolling blackouts began on January 17, 2001. In 1994, PG&E caused the Trauner Fire in Nevada County , California through criminal negligence. The fire burned many acres of land and destroyed a schoolhouse and twelve homes near the town of Rough and Ready , California. PG&E was found guilty of causing the fire and of 739 counts of criminal negligence. In 1996, one of PG&E's substations in
2415-507: A vehicle and two on ATVs. Some residents who were unable to evacuate survived by sheltering in place at the American gas station and the Nearly New antique store across the street. Others gathered in the nearby parking lot shared by a KMart and a Save Mart. The survival of some of those who sheltered in place has raised the question of whether in some scenarios last-minute mass evacuations provide
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#17328456793602530-451: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Pacific Gas and Electric Company The Pacific Gas and Electric Company ( PG&E ) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU) . The company is headquartered at 300 Lakeside Drive , in Oakland, California . PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 million households in
2645-508: Is nearly inaccessible. It is on the west side of the river underneath the transmission lines. It’s got about a 35 mi/h sustained wind on it. We’ll keep working on access. I’m going to go up the highway to try and get a better idea about how to get to it. It’s a possibility we may have to come in off the top of Concow Road; Flea Mountain… This has got potential for a major incident. Request 15 additional engines, 4 additional dozers, 2 water tenders, 4 strike teams of hand crews. I’ll get back to you on
2760-457: Is responsible for inspecting PG&E's electrical infrastructure. The scope of the CPUC in relation to the scope of electrical infrastructure is unbalanced, however, and the CPUC has had difficulty fulfilling their oversight mandate. A CPUC inspection of the section of the 115 kV Caribou-Palermo line at the origin of the Camp Fire had not been conducted in six years. Many of the electrical towers along
2875-510: The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) found the company's infrastructure primarily responsible for causing two separate devastating wildfires in California, including the 2018 Camp Fire , the deadliest wildfire in California history. The formal finding of liability led to losses in federal bankruptcy court. On January 14, 2019, PG&E announced its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in response to its liability for
2990-702: The Common Council of the City of San Francisco a franchise to erect a gasworks, lay pipes in the streets and install street lamps to light the city with "brilliant gas". The council specified that gas should be supplied to households "at such rates as will make it to their interest to use it in preference to any other material". Eastland and the Donahue brothers incorporated the San Francisco Gas Company on August 31, 1852, with $ 150,000 of authorized capital . It became
3105-628: The Tubbs Fire was potentially added when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali ruled that a fast-track state jury trial could proceed to resolve who is at fault for the Tubbs Fire. Cal Fire determined that customer equipment was at fault, but lawyers representing wildfire victims claimed that PG&E equipment was at fault. This trial was scheduled to begin January 7, 2020 in San Francisco. The court case
3220-529: The catastrophic 2017 and 2018 wildfires in Northern California. The company hoped to come out of bankruptcy by June 30, 2020, and was successful on Saturday, June 20, 2020, when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali issued the final approval of the plan for PG&E to exit bankruptcy. In the 1850s, manufactured gas was introduced to the United States for lighting. Larger American cities in
3335-440: The "Abnormally Dry" category beginning in late June. By November 8, Butte County's lower elevations had gone more than 200 days without receiving one-half inch (1.3 cm) of rain. The energy release component (ERC), a metric for the dryness and flammability of vegetation, was above average all summer. As summer turned into fall and significant rain had not materialized by early October, ERC levels were well above average, and on
3450-603: The Alberta and Southern Gas Company on the Canadian side, and by Pacific Gas Transmission Company, a subsidiary of PG&E, on the U.S. side. Construction of the pipeline lasted 14 months. Testing began in 1961, and the completed 1,400-mile pipeline was dedicated in early 1962. PG&E began construction on another nuclear facility, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant , in 1968. Originally slated to come online in 1979,
3565-512: The Butte Lightning Complex burned 100,000 acres (40,470 ha) on either side of Paradise, killing two people and destroying hundreds of buildings in the region. In 2005, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) released a fire management plan for the region, which warned that the town of Paradise was at risk for an east wind-driven conflagration similar to the Oakland firestorm of 1991 . In June 2009,
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3680-421: The CPUC gave PG&E permission to replace the aging line, though the design did not include line hardening through high fire hazard areas. The winter of 2016–2017 saw above-average precipitation across much of California, ending a six-year statewide drought . One of the effects of the wet winter was the second spring in a row with an above-average grass crop. That winter was followed by that of 2017–2018, which
3795-462: The California Gas & Electric Company to acquire and merge gas and electric power businesses, and bought many utilities like Oakland Gas Light & Heat Company, United Gas & Electric Company, and, in 1905, San Francisco Gas & Electric Company. In 1905, Martin and de Sabla formed Pacific Gas and Electric Company . According to PG&E's 2012 history timeline on their webpage,
3910-604: The Camp Fire's ignition, as the company did not de-energize transmission lines. The downslope winds that formed on November 8 were particularly intense through Jarbo Gap, an area where air squeezes through the Feather River Canyon from the northeast. These "Jarbo Gap winds" commonly developed in the autumn, and in the fifteen years prior to the Camp Fire, records showed 35 days with wind gusts higher than 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). Gusty winds at Jarbo Gap began at about 7:00 p.m. on November 7 and increased over
4025-606: The Caribou-Palermo line were unusually high. A 2012 windstorm brought down five towers. After the Camp Fire, the CPUC's Safety and Enforcement Table Mountain Division audited three years of the missing ten years of PG&E's records. Focusing on where the Camp Fire broke out, the audit found "the company was late in fixing 900 problems on its towers and other equipment, including two critical threats that regulators say languished more than 600 days before being repaired." In May 2018,
4140-583: The City Gas Company in April 1870 to compete with the gas monopoly held by the Donahue brothers' operation. City Gas began operation in 1872 and initiated a price war with the San Francisco Gas Company. In 1873, the two companies negotiated a consolidation as a compromise and the Bank of California gained part ownership of "the most lucrative gas monopoly in the West". On April 1, 1873, the San Francisco Gas Light Company
4255-685: The Feather River Canyon spotted the fire and radioed his colleagues at Rock Creek Powerhouse; they called 911 , who in turn transferred the call to the Cal Fire Emergency Communications Center (ECC) at 6:25 a.m. Additional calls to 911 followed, describing the fire as about 100 by 100 feet (30 by 30 m) in area, underneath the electrical transmission lines on the north side of the North Fork Feather River. By 6:31 a.m., Cal Fire had notified firefighters at Fire Station 36 (located near Concow/Jarbo Gap) of
4370-528: The General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy . Within a few years of its incorporation, PG&E made significant inroads into Northern California's hydroelectric industry through purchase of existing water storage and conveyance facilities. These included many reservoirs, dams, ditches and flumes built by mining interests in the Sierras that were no longer commercially viable. By 1914, PG&E
4485-588: The Great Earthquake. The company's substantial capital allowed it to survive, rebuild, and expand. In 1906, PG&E purchased the Sacramento Electric, Gas and Railway Company and took control of its railway operations in and around Sacramento . The Sacramento City Street Railway began operating under the Pacific Gas & Electric name in 1915, and its track and services subsequently expanded. By 1931
4600-632: The Lowe gas patents, acquired a lease and then an interest in San Francisco's Central Gas Light Company on November 1, 1883. United was acquired by the Pacific Gas Improvement Company in 1884. Under the management of president Albert Miller, Pacific Gas Improvement developed into a formidable competitor to San Francisco Gas Light. His sons, Horace A. Miller and C. O. G. Miller (Christian Otto Gerberding Miller), acting as Secretary and President, respectively, eventually owned and controlled not only
4715-647: The Mission District of San Francisco caught fire. PG&E was eventually found legally culpable for the fire due to criminal negligence, according to an investigation in 2003. The 1999 Pendola fire in the Plumas National Forest and Tahoe National Forest burned nearly 12,000 acres of forest was found to have been caused by poor vegetation management by PG&E. In 1998, a change in the regulation of California's public utilities, including PG&E, began. The California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) set
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4830-621: The Oregon border". In the 1950s and 1960s, at both the Topock and Hinkley compressor stations, a hexavalent chromium additive was used to prevent rust in the cooling towers, which later was the cause of the Hinkley groundwater contamination . It disposed of the water from the cooling towers "adjacent to the compressor stations". PG&E was significantly affected by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake . The company's assorted central offices were damaged by
4945-536: The Pacific Gas Improvement Company but also the Pacific Gas Lighting Company (Pacific Lighting Company). In 1888, San Francisco Gas Light built its own water gas plant at the Potrero gas works . The manufacturing of water gas proved successful due to the increased availability of inexpensive petroleum. The company decided to construct a modern gas works with both updated water gas manufacturing technology and
5060-426: The Paradise region were awarded $ 5 million in grants from the fire prevention programs to pay for fuel reduction and education projects. Despite years of fuel reduction funded by special fees, numerous wildfires ravaged wildland–urban communities. Investigations found that PG&E power line failures during high winds had caused many of the fires. Utilities have the ability to disable dangerous power lines; however,
5175-710: The Sacramento Street Railway Division operated 75 streetcars on 47 miles (76 km) of track. PG&E's streetcars were powered by the company's hydroelectric plant in Folsom . In 1943, PG&E sold the rail service to Pacific City Lines, which was later acquired by National City Lines . Several streetcar lines were soon converted to bus service, and the track was abandoned entirely in 1947. During this same period, Pacific City Lines and its successor, National City Lines, with funding from General Motors , Firestone Tire , Standard Oil of California (through
5290-626: The San Francisco Gas and Electric Company and the California Gas and Electric Corporation merged to form the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) on October 10, 1905. The consolidation gave the California Gas and Electric Corporation access to the large San Francisco market and a base for further financing. The San Francisco Gas and Electric Company, in turn, was able to reinforce its electric system, which until then had been powered entirely by steam-operated generating plants , which could not compete with lower cost hydroelectric power . After
5405-790: The San Francisco Gas and Electric Company included the Equitable Gas Light Company, the Independent Electric Light and Power Company, and the Independent Gas and Power Company. In 1903, the company purchased its main competitor for gas lighting, the Pacific Gas Improvement Company. John Martin and Eugene J. de Sabla , started out as gold miners along the Yuba River, harnessing hydroelectric power, building hydro plants in Nevada City (1895), and Northern California. In
5520-591: The Sierra and San Francisco Power Company, which provided hydropower to San Francisco's streetcars. These three companies added valuable properties and power and water sources. By the end of 1927, PG&E had nearly one million customers and provided electricity to 300 Northern Californian communities. In 1930, PG&E purchased majority stock holdings in two major Californian utility systems—Great Western Power and San Joaquin Light and Power —from The North American Company ,
5635-491: The United States, in Pleasanton, California . The reactor initially produced 5,000 kilowatts of power, enough to power a town of 12,000. In addition to nuclear power, PG&E continued to develop natural gas supplies as well. In 1959, the company began working to obtain approval for the import of a large quantity of natural gas from Alberta , Canada to California, via a pipeline constructed by Westcoast Transmission Co. and
5750-484: The Western United States were deployed to fight the fire. In the first week, the fire burned tens of thousands of acres per day. Containment on the western half was achieved when the fire reached primary highway and roadway arteries that formed barriers. In the second week the fire expanded by several thousand acres per day along a large uncontained fire line. Each day, containment increased by five percent along
5865-498: The air so turbulent that fire retardant drops were impossible. The air tanker returned to base 45 minutes later, still fully loaded. Cal Fire made two more attempts to send air tankers, both of which were unsuccessful. While helicopters—better able to fly beneath the thick smoke—were able to drop water on evacuation routes over the course of the day, fixed-wing aircraft were grounded until the winds slowed. By 7:48 a.m. people began calling 911 to report widespread spot fires on
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#17328456793605980-681: The best outcomes, with some pointing to Australia's policy discouraging them, instituted following the 1983 Ash Wednesday brushfires in which many of the 75 dead were killed while trying to evacuate. However, 70 of the 84 fatalities listed in the Butte County District Attorney's Camp Fire investigation summary occurred inside or immediately outside the victim's residences, indicating that failure to evacuate contributed to many more deaths (70) than occurred while evacuating (8). Many seniors were evacuated by passersby and neighbors, with at least one account of dozens of evacuees jumping into
6095-493: The communities of Butte Valley , Chico , Forest Ranch , Helltown , Inskip , Oroville , and Stirling City . The community of Concow and the town of Paradise were destroyed within the first six hours of the fire, losing an estimated 95 percent of their buildings. The town of Magalia also suffered substantial damage, and the community of Pulga , California suffered some. Nearly 19,000 buildings were destroyed, most of them homes, along with five public schools in Paradise,
6210-461: The community of Concow. Incident command requested that an evacuation warning be issued for Concow at 7:22 a.m. Buildings in the town began to burn by 7:25 a.m, and five minutes later Concow residents began calling 911 to report fire in their yards. An evacuation order was requested for Concow at 7:37 a.m. When the main fire front impacted Concow it was between one-half and one mile (0.80 and 1.61 km) across. "Intense fire
6325-470: The community of Pulga. The tower had two arms, each with a hook hanging from a hole in a long piece of metal. The hook held up a string of electrical insulators . The transmission power lines were suspended from these insulators, away from the steel tower itself so as to prevent electricity arcing between them. One of the hooks on the tower (about three inches (7.6 cm) wide and one inch (2.5 cm) in diameter) had been worn down by rubbing against
6440-632: The company began exploring possibilities for a 3,000-mile pipeline from Alaska, which would travel through the Mackenzie River Valley and on to join with the previously constructed pipeline originating in Alberta. In 1977 the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline project received approval from the U.S. Federal Power Commission and support from the Carter Administration. The pipeline still required approval from Canada. Plans for
6555-566: The day of the start of the Camp Fire, they were setting records for the date. The National Fire Danger Rating System had four reporting stations in Butte County. On November 8, all of them reported fire danger ratings of "Very High" or "Extreme". At the time of the fire's ignition, an upper-level atmospheric ridge (an elongated region of high pressure ) was positioned off the coast of California. Its placement, allowing for northerly atmospheric flow, created an east–west pressure gradient . At
6670-455: The debt. Facing potential liabilities of $ 30 billion from multiple wildfires in the years 2015–2018, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), on January 14, 2019, began the process of filing for bankruptcy with a 15-day notice of intention to file for bankruptcy protection. On January 29, 2019 PG&E Corporation, the parent corporation of PG&E, filed for bankruptcy protection. Because fire survivors are unsecured creditors with
6785-596: The early 1890s, Martin, de Sabla, Alfonso Tregidgo, and later, Romulus Riggs Colgate, began developing a hydroelectric powerhouse on the South Fork of the Yuba River. In 1899, Martin and de Sabla formed Yuba Power Company. In 1900, Martin and de Sabla created the Bay Counties Power Company, constructing a 140-mile transmission line for an electric railway in Oakland. In 1903, John Martin and Eugene de Sabla started
6900-607: The east built gasworks , but the west had no gas industry. San Francisco had street lights only on Merchant Street, in the form of oil lamps. Three brothers—Peter, James, and Michael Donahue—ran the foundry that became the Union Iron Works , the largest shipbuilding operation on the West Coast, and became interested in manufacturing gas Joseph G. Eastland, an engineer and clerk at the foundry, joined them in gathering information. In July 1852, James applied for and received from
7015-496: The eastern side of Paradise, 7.5 miles (12 km) from the Camp Fire's origin above the Poe Dam. At least 30 spot fires ignited within Paradise over the following 40 minutes. Until roughly this point, the three on-duty 911 dispatchers in Paradise had been unaware of any evacuation orders or direct threat to Paradise from the fire. Dozens of people reported ash and smoke between 7:10 a.m. and 7:40 a.m., and all were told that
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#17328456793607130-524: The effect of requiring the utility to buy power from the energy generators at fluctuating prices, while being forced to sell the power to consumers at a fixed cost. The market for electricity was dominated by the Enron Corporation , which, with help from other corporations, artificially pushed prices for electricity ever higher. This led to the California electricity crisis that began in 2000 on Path 15 ,
7245-432: The energized power line struck the transmission tower. This created an electric arc between the power line and the tower, which reached temperatures estimated at 5,000 to 10,000 °F (2,760 to 5,540 °C) and melted metal components of the conductor and the tower. The molten metal fell into the brush beneath the tower, setting it alight. At about 6:20 a.m., a PG&E employee driving eastbound on Highway 70 in
7360-399: The fire at Concow Road. At the same time, one fire engine was dispatched to Pulga and began door-to-door evacuations. By 6:51 a.m., the Camp Fire had burned about ten acres (four ha). The fire crested the ridge above the Feather River Canyon "shortly after" 7:00 a.m., and about ten minutes later, it had burned 200–300 acres (81–121 ha) and was spreading rapidly towards
7475-489: The fire started, PG&E employees noted the Big Bend's line equipment on the ground. On November 10, an estimate placed the number of structures destroyed at 6,713, which surpassed the Tubbs Fire as the most destructive wildfire in California history, but that has since been updated to 18,793. By November 15, 5,596 firefighters, 622 engines, 75 water tenders, 101 handcrews , 103 bulldozers, and 24 helicopters from all over
7590-525: The fire was caused by PG&E transmission lines. Damages would not be covered by the settlement for wildfire victims that was part of the PG&E bankruptcy. PG&E settled for $ 1 billion with state and local governments in June, 2019, and settled for $ 11 billion with insurance carriers and hedge funds in September, 2019. Representatives for wildfire victims say PG&E owes $ 54 billion or more, and PG&E
7705-535: The fire was north of Concow near Highway 70. At 7:50 a.m., a caller reporting "spot fires all over" was told that there were "no evacuations at this point." Nevertheless, the dispatchers began telling those callers from the far northeastern corner of Paradise to evacuate. The dispatchers learned of the Butte County Fire Department's orders to evacuate the entire town shortly after 8:00 a.m. and then began instructing all callers that they were under
7820-547: The fire. By 6:35 a.m., two fire engines had left the station and were en route via Highway 70. They stopped above Poe Dam , on the opposite side of the Feather River, to survey the fire. At 6:44 a.m., the fire captain made an initial report to the Cal Fire ECC, describing the fire's inaccessibility and prospective growth. We have eyes on the vegetation fire. It’s going to be very difficult access; Camp Creek Road
7935-404: The first gas utility in the West. Its official seal bore the inscription " Fiat Lux "—let there be light—the same slogan later adopted by the University of California. There were 11 original stockholders, and the three Donahue brothers subscribed for 610 of the 1,500 shares. The original location for the gas works was bounded by First, Fremont, Howard and Natoma streets south of Market, on what
8050-478: The first major urban area to switch from manufactured gas to natural gas. The transition required the adjustment of burners and airflow valves on 1.75 million appliances. In 1936, PG&E expanded distribution with an additional 45-mile pipeline from Milpitas . PG&E gradually retired its gas manufacturing facilities, although some plants were kept on standby. Defense activities boosted natural gas sales in California during World War II , but cut deeply into
8165-530: The first week, nearly ten victims per day were found. In the second week, that lowered to several victims per day. Victims were still being found in the third week and beyond. Identification of the deceased was hampered by the fragmentary condition of many bodies. Ten of 18 dentists in Paradise lost their offices and patient records in the fire. Two of the dead were identified from the serial numbers on artificial joints, 15 from dental records, five from fingerprints and 50 from DNA. Funerals and benefits were delayed by
8280-522: The ground". The fee was suspended and repealed by the California State Legislature in July 2017. Initially, much of the fire-fee revenue funded existing fire programs; the process of building out new prevention programs was slow, but the revenue did fund projects such as secondary evacuation routes and fuel reduction zones. In August 2018, three months before the fire, fire safe councils in
8395-505: The identification difficulties. As of 2022, a few victims are still unidentified and are undergoing testing and identification by the DNA Doe Project . Traffic jams on the few evacuation routes led to cars being abandoned while people evacuated on foot, but did not contribute to any deaths. At least seven deaths occurred when the fire overtook people who were trapped in their vehicles, most on Edgewood Road, as well as one person outside
8510-489: The line are original to the Upper North Fork Feather River Project , which was constructed in the early 1900s. A 2009 inspection noted three-bolt connectors, used to join two conductors, were in need of replacement, which PG&E said had been done by 2016. In a 2011 audit, the CPUC found several thousand deficiencies, some of which PG&E disputed; it was not clear if the number of deficiencies on
8625-461: The merger and consolidation of predecessor utility companies, and by 1984 was the United States' "largest electric utility business". PG&E is one of six regulated, investor-owned electric utilities (IOUs) in California; the other five are PacifiCorp , Southern California Edison , San Diego Gas & Electric , Bear Valley Electric , and Liberty Utilities . In 2018 and 2019, the company received widespread media notoriety when investigations by
8740-528: The merger, engineers and management from each organization made plans to coordinate and unify the two systems. However, the two firms maintained separate corporate identities until 1911. PG&E began delivering natural gas to San Francisco and northern California in 1930. The longest pipeline in the world connected the Texas gas fields to northern California, with compressor stations that included cooling towers every 300 miles (480 km), at Topock, Arizona , on
8855-526: The metal plate that it hung from, to the point where only a few millimeters of metal remained. At 6:15 a.m. PST on Thursday, November 8, a PG&E control center in Vacaville recorded an outage on the company's transmission line in the Feather River Canyon. The hook—which was about 7/8ths worn through—had snapped under the weight of the power line and insulator string that it supported, which weighed more than 142 pounds (64 kg). No longer held up,
8970-465: The morning of Thursday, November 8, 2018, when part of a poorly maintained Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) transmission line in the Feather River Canyon failed during strong katabatic winds . Those winds rapidly drove the Camp Fire through the communities of Concow , Magalia , Butte Creek Canyon , and Paradise , largely destroying them. The fire burned for another two weeks, and
9085-457: The most part never attempted to prevent the flames from entering Concow or Paradise, and instead sought to help people get out alive. According to Chief Scott McLean of Cal Fire , "Pretty much the community of Paradise is destroyed, it's that kind of devastation. The wind that was predicted came and just wiped it out." The first hours saw a cascade of failures in the emergency alert system, rooted in its patchwork, opt-in nature, and compounded by
9200-463: The nearly 100-year-old transmission lines required intentional manual effort. PG&E shut off residential power to some customers, particularly in Paradise, in the days leading up to the fire. Following the 2017 North Bay fires , PG&E adopted a policy that precluded shutting off lines carrying more than 115 kV due to the number of customers who would be adversely affected by such a shutdown. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
9315-482: The next two hours. By 4:00 a.m. on November 8, a remote automated weather station east of Paradise was recording sustained 32-mile-per-hour (51 km/h) winds and 52-mile-per-hour (84 km/h) gusts. By the time of the Camp Fire's ignition, the Jarbo Gap weather station was recording 18-mile-per-hour (29 km/h) winds out of the northeast with 40-mile-per-hour (64 km/h) gusts. The relative humidity level
9430-491: The next year, to 563. By the end of 1855, the company had laid more than 6 ½ miles of pipe and 154 street lamps were in operation. The growing popularity of gas light led to competing gas companies, including the Aubin Patent Gas Company and Citizens Gas Company. The San Francisco Gas Company quickly acquired these smaller rivals. However, one rival did provide serious competition. The Bank of California founded
9545-548: The northern two-thirds of California , from Bakersfield and northern Santa Barbara County , almost to the Oregon and Nevada state lines. Overseen by the California Public Utilities Commission , PG&E is the leading subsidiary of the holding company PG&E Corporation , which has a market capitalization of $ 36.33 billion as of February 23, 2024. PG&E was established on October 10, 1905 from
9660-420: The open market PG&E started hemorrhaging cash. PG&E Company (the utility, not the holding company) entered bankruptcy under Chapter 11 on April 6, 2001. The state of California tried to bail out the utility and provide power to PG&E's 5.1 million customers under the same rules that required the state to buy electricity at market rate high cost to meet demand and sell it at a lower fixed price, and as
9775-420: The pipeline were placed on hold in 1977 by a Canadian judge. Justice Thomas R. Berger of British Columbia shelved the project for at least 10 years, citing concerns from First Nations groups, whose land the pipeline would have traversed, as well as potential environmental impacts. In 1984 the great-grandson of PG&E's founder George H. Roe—David Roe published his book entitled Dynamos and Virgins during
9890-521: The plant's opening was delayed for several years due to environmental protests and concerns over the safety of the plant's construction. Testing of the plant began in 1984, and energy production was brought up to full power in 1985. During the construction of the Diablo Canyon plant, PG&E continued its efforts to bring natural gas supplies from the North to their service area in California. In 1972,
10005-581: The quake and destroyed by the subsequent fire. Its San Francisco Gas and Electric Company subsidiary in particular suffered significant infrastructure loss, as its distribution systems—miles of gas mains and electric wires—were dissevered. Only two gas and two electric plants, all located far from the city, survived the destruction. These functioning facilities—including the new 4,000,000-foot crude oil gas works at Potrero Generating Station —played critical roles in San Francisco's rebuilding efforts. Many of PG&E's utility competitors ceased operation following
10120-805: The rates that PG&E could charge customers and required them to provide as much power as the customers wanted at rates set by the CPUC. In the summer of 2001 a drought in the northwest states and in California reduced the amount of hydroelectric power available. Usually PG&E could buy "cheap" hydroelectric power under long-term contracts with the Bonneville Dam and other sources. Drought and delays in approval of new power plants and market manipulation decreased available electric power generation capacity that could be generated in state or bought under long-term contracts out of state. Hot weather brought on higher usage, rolling blackouts , and other problems. With little excess generating capacity of its own, PG&E
10235-425: The recent rain. Over a thousand firefighters remained to search for any smoldering fires near the contained perimeter, clear roadways of debris and hazardous burned trees, and help with search and recovery efforts. There were a large number of fatalities in the first several hours of the fire, but they were not found quickly. Discovery of these early fatalities took place over the course of the following two weeks. In
10350-407: The regulated utility, and a non-regulated energy business. In the later 1990s, under electricity market deregulation this utility sold off most of its natural gas power plants . The utility retained all of its hydroelectric plants, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant and a few natural gas plants, but the large natural gas plants it sold made up a large portion of its generating capacity. This had
10465-548: The roads out of Paradise were only capable of evacuating around a fourth of the population within two hours. Residential development into wilderness areas, known as wildland–urban interface , requires increased state resources to safeguard these communities. To recuperate associated costs, California imposed a special fee on property owners in WUI zones, however the fee was largely unpopular, with assemblyman Devon Mathis (Republican) claiming "not one cent has gone to putting more boots on
10580-472: The same priority as bondholders, they would only be paid in proportion to their claim size if anything is left after secured and priority claims are paid; this nearly ensured that they will not get paid in full. PG&E had a deadline of June 30, 2020 to exit bankruptcy in order to participate in the California state wildfire insurance fund established by AB 1054 that helps utilities pay for future wildfire claims. On August 16, 2019, liability for
10695-456: The same time, a shortwave trough (a smaller-scale 'kink' of low pressure embedded in the flow) was moving over California, acting to intensify the pressure gradient. This created katabatic winds in many valleys in the western Sierra Nevada. Such winds form when the cool, high pressure airmass in the Great Basin spills through the narrow canyons that cut through the Sierra as it moves towards
10810-570: The single digits and wind gusts of up to 55 miles per hour (89 km/h). The meteorologist-in-charge at the Sacramento NWS office called it "a significant red-flag event and one of the stronger ones of the season". PG&E informed 70,000 customers, residents of Paradise among them, that the utility company was considering shutting off their power to lessen the fire risk from downed power lines. PG&E eventually decided that conditions did not warrant it. The planned outage would not have prevented
10925-408: The south. By 10:45 a.m., the fire had burned approximately 20,000 acres (8,100 ha). At some point that day, emergency shelters were established. Wind speeds approached 50 miles per hour (22 m/s), allowing the fire to grow rapidly. Most residents of Concow and many residents of Paradise were unable to evacuate before the fire arrived. Due to the speed of the fire, firefighters for
11040-408: The state line, and near the town of Hinkley, California . With the introduction of natural gas, the company began retiring its polluting gas manufacturing facilities, although it did keep some plants on standby. Today a network of eight compressor stations linked by "40,000 miles of distribution pipelines and over 6,000 miles of transportation pipelines" serves "4.2 million customers from Bakersfield to
11155-697: The state's natural reserves. In 1947, PG&E entered into a contract with the Southern California Gas Company and the Southern Counties Gas Company to purchase natural gas through a new 1,000-mile pipeline running from Texas and New Mexico to Los Angeles. Another agreement was reached with the El Paso Natural Gas Company of Texas for gas delivery to the California-Arizona border. In 1951, PG&E completed
11270-471: The time when there was a growing antinuclear-power movement. David Roe, who was an environmentalist and the Environmental Defense Fund 's West Coast general counsel, "mounted an assault on the longstanding assumption that steady growth in coal- and nuclear-generating capacity was the only solution to the nation's energy needs". He based his arguments on an economic analysis "aimed at showing that
11385-491: The uncontained eastern half of the fire that expanded into open timber and high country. Heavy rainfall started on November 21, which helped contain the fire. Fire crews pulled back and let the rain put out the remaining fires while teams searched for victims. The Camp Fire was declared 100 percent contained on Sunday, November 25, having burned for 17 days. This was five days ahead of the original projection for full containment on November 30, as firefighters had been aided by
11500-460: The utility made a settlement offer of $ 13.5 billion for the wildfire victims; the offer covered several devastating fires caused by the utility, including the Camp Fire. On June 16, 2020, the utility pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter. The footprint of the Camp Fire had experienced 13 large wildfires since 1999 and 42 large wildfires since 1914. In 2008, the Humboldt Fire and
11615-521: The warmer, low pressure airmass closer to the coast. The National Weather Service (NWS) described this as a "common synoptic pattern for strong winds and very dry conditions". The NWS office in Sacramento issued a fire weather watch on November 5, which was upgraded to a red flag warning on November 6. The warning was effective for the night of Wednesday, November 7, through the morning of Friday, November 9, and it called for relative humidity levels in
11730-494: The wildfire victims fund, threatening to take the money from individual wildfire victims if PG&E did not pay, and Cal OES had an overlapping $ 2.3 billion request, but they later settled for $ 1 billion after all wildfire victims are paid. Camp Fire (2018) The 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California 's Butte County was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history. The fire began on
11845-448: The wind slackened enough to allow fixed-wing air tankers to operate effectively. Nine air tankers operated for the next four-and-a-half hours: five S-2s , a DC-10 , and three other large air tankers. They collectively dropped more than 69,000 gallons of fire retardant on November 8 alone. Fixed-wing air tankers ceased flying at 5:30 p.m. By 6:00 p.m., the fire had burned not quite 55,000 acres (22,000 ha). The day after
11960-594: Was 23 percent. The Camp Fire was caused by the failure of a single metal hook attached to a PG&E transmission tower on the company's Caribou-Palermo transmission line, which carried power from hydroelectric facilities in the Sierra Nevada to the Bay Area . The tower, a little under 100 feet (30 m) tall, was built on a steep incline on a ridge above Highway 70 and the North Fork Feather River near
12075-527: Was both hotter and drier than average, allowing for 'fine fuels' such as grass to carry over from the previous year. A third consecutive above-average grass crop developed following a warm and wet March 2018. This was followed by the cessation of rain in late April, and a hot and dry summer in Northern California. Paradise received only 0.88 inches (2.2 cm) of rain between May 1 and mid-November, when it typically received more than seven inches (18 cm). The U.S. Drought Monitor had logged Butte County in
12190-438: Was contained on Sunday, November 25, after burning 153,336 acres (62,050 ha). The Camp Fire caused 85 fatalities, displaced more than 50,000 people, and destroyed more than 18,000 structures, causing an estimated $ 16.5 billion in damage. It was the most expensive natural disaster (by insured losses) of 2018. PG&E filed for bankruptcy in January 2019, citing expected wildfire liabilities of $ 30 billion. On December 6, 2019,
12305-640: Was dramatically altered by the discovery of massive natural gas fields throughout the American Southwest beginning in 1918. The fuel was cleaner than manufactured gas and less expensive to produce. While natural gas sources were abundant in Southern California, no economical sources were available in Northern California. In 1929, PG&E constructed a 300-mile pipeline from the Kettleman oil field to bring natural gas to San Francisco. The city became
12420-524: Was erected in 1888 in front of City Hall , and the electrical grid supporting it was gradually extended. A second generating station was constructed in 1888 by the California Electric Light Company to increase production capacity. New competition also emerged in the 1880s in the form of water gas , an improved illuminant patented by Thaddeus Lowe . The United Gas Improvement Company, a water gas manufacturer organized after purchasing
12535-528: Was forced to buy electricity out of state from suppliers without long-term contracts. Because PG&E had to buy additional electricity to meet demand, some suppliers took advantage of this requirement and manipulated the market by creating artificial shortages and charged very high electrical rates, as exemplified by the Enron scandal . The CPUC refused to adjust the allowable electric rates. Unable to change rates and sell electricity to consumers for what it cost them on
12650-467: Was formed, representing a merger of the San Francisco Gas Company, the City Gas Company, and the Metropolitan Gas Company. Gas utilities, including San Francisco Gas Light, faced new competition with the introduction of electric lighting to California. According to a 2012 PG&E publication and their 1952 commissioned history, in 1879, San Francisco was the first city in the U.S. to have
12765-474: Was offering $ 8.4 billion for fire damages, Cal Fire, and FEMA. If more than 500 homes were completely destroyed by the Kincade Fire , and PG&E was found to be at fault, then the parties agreeing to the settlements may have the option to back out of the agreements. Later PG&E offered a $ 13.5 billion fund to cover claims of the wildfire victims. FEMA originally requested PG&E for $ 3.9 billion from
12880-521: Was superseded by the Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA) of December 9, 2019 and by the approved bankruptcy reorganization plan, wherein PG&E accepted liability for the Tubbs Fire. Liability for the Kincade Fire that started October 23, 2019 was potentially added, because initially it was unknown whether or not PG&E was at fault for the fire. On July 16, 2020, which was after PG&E exited bankruptcy, Cal Fire reported that
12995-598: Was the largest integrated utility system on the Pacific Coast. The company handled 26 percent of the electric and gas business in California. Its operations spanned 37,000 square miles across 30 counties. The company expanded in the 1920s through strategic consolidation. Important acquisitions during this period included the California Telephone and Light Company, the Western States Gas and Electric Company and
13110-612: Was then the shore of the San Francisco Bay . Work on the plant started in November 1852, and finished a few months later. On the night of February 11, 1854, the streets of San Francisco were for the first time lighted by gas. To celebrate the event, the company held a gala banquet at the Oriental Hotel. Gas lighting quickly gained public favor. In the first year of operation, the company had 237 customers. That number more than doubled
13225-430: Was widespread" throughout the town by 8:00 a.m., according to a federal report. At 7:44 a.m., spot fires began to ignite in Paradise itself, ahead of the approaching main fire front. Simultaneously, the first Cal Fire air tanker left the ground at 7:44 a.m., quickly followed by an observation plane. The pilot quickly discovered that the winds were so strong—more than 50 miles per hour (80 km/h)—and
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