PG&E Reaches $11 Bln Settlement For Wildfire Claims

(RTTNews) - PG&E Corp. (PCG) reached an $11 billion settlement with entities representing about 85% of insurance claims related to 2017 and 2018 wildfires.

It is the second major settlement of wildfire claims by PG&E, and requires approval by the federal bankruptcy judge overseeing the utility's Chapter 11 case. The company said the claims were based on payments made by insurance companies to individuals and businesses with insurance coverage for wildfire damage.

PG&E said proceedings on the third and final major group of wildfire claims remain pending in federal and state courts.

PG&E had filed for bankruptcy protection in January as it faces up to $30 billion in fire liabilities, including last year's Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire of California's modern history. The Camp Fire, which burned in Paradise, California, last November, killed at least 86 people.

Equipment owned and maintained by the company also started at least 17 of the 21 major wildfires that burned in California in 2017, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.