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PG&E Will Pay Out $1 Billion to California Governments for Wildfire Damage

A series of devastating wildfires over the past five years have been blamed on faulty power lines and poles operated by PG&E.

The utility giant blamed for a series of wildfires that devastated huge swaths of California has agreed to pay out $1 billion to local governments across the state to help repair the damage. Pacific Gas & Electric will pay out to more than a dozen state public entities for their losses from the deadly blazes believed to have been sparked by PG&E equipment. The town of Paradise, which was destroyed by last year’s Camp Fire in Northern California that also killed 85 people, will get $270 million. The money will also go toward covering the damage from the 2015 Butte Fire and a series of 2017 fires, all believed to have been caused by PG&E power lines and poles. However, the payouts are subject to bankruptcy-court confirmation because PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection in January after being sued for billions in wildfire damages.