I prognosticated in another thread that this would be a catalyst for a government takeover of the utility. I'm waiting for that announcement to come any day now.

"California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said last month PG&E could face murder, manslaughter or other criminal charges if it's found responsible for any of the state's deadly wildfires in recent years."

I got a stupid question: If PG&E is found guilty of criminal charges, who goes to prison?

As large as this utility is, I seriously doubt there would be any way to identify specific individuals who could in any way be responsible.

I like your thinking.

No. I let the investors outside of Cali think that the utility didn't have a cozy relationship with the regulators. In fact, they do.

Remember from the money speech in Atlas Shrugged...the laws are to protect them from you, not you from them. Sure, after the negligence that was made public became so gross even the looters had to step aside. But, for a while there they followed my model of preparing to let the share holders hold the bag. I pounced in that time. Once they buckled and it was clear how bad things are I was long gone...

Congrats.

Did you short it?

Not bragging, but I made 30% on their stock in the early stages of this mess. Ok...I'm bragging. Once I got out, I never looked back, though. I was banking on the fact that the PUC would prop them up and make the rate payers cover all the damages. I was right. When I was no longer right, I was out. Made 30% in 12 hours. That's a personal record. You can find that night on the recent chart.

Agreed. Tree huggers never get the blame for anything that their actions cause.

"The company said earlier this month that it faces about 750 complaints on behalf of at least 5,600 fire victims who allege damages caused by PG&E equipment, and estimated that its fire-related liabilities could ultimately exceed $30 billion.

PG&E received some relief last week when state fire investigators said its equipment wasn’t responsible for the 2017 Tubbs Fire, which burned nearly 37,000 acres and killed 22 people. PG&E’s shares jumped on the news but were still down, through Monday, more than 80% since October.
Even though it was cleared in the Tubbs Fire, California investigators have determined that the utility’s power lines sparked 18 other wildfires in October 2017 that burned nearly 200,000 acres, destroyed 3,256 structures and killed 22 people. California’s legal framework renders utilities liable for damages from wildfires started by their equipment, even if they weren’t negligent."

"Investigators are still working to determine whether PG&E’s equipment played a role in starting last November’s Camp Fire, which killed 86 people, making it the deadliest fire in state history. The company disclosed that one of its high-voltage transmission lines malfunctioned in the area about 15 minutes before the fire started."

The Camp Fire was started when a transformer blew up, by the admission of PG&E. The Camp Fire was orders of magnitude more devastating than the Tubbs.

BTW, no mention of an investigation into the nearly total lack of responsible forest management at the hands of the government and politicians that set this mess up in the first place. The power lines along the roads in my community run through very dense tree branches. But, it looks nice..... There are no adults in charge here.. The massive voting blocks in the large cities don't have to worry about such things. They're more concerned about "free" stuff for everyone, banning plastic straws and making sure you don't offend anyone.