OAKLAND — A federal agency has launched a criminal probe into the potential role that PG&E’s equipment might have played in starting California’s largest wildfire of 2022, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.
The U.S. Forest Service has confiscated a PG&E transmission pole and other equipment that was located in the area where the huge Mosquito Fire erupted in the Sierra Nevada foothills on Sept. 6.
The investigation could deal a blow to PG&E’s long-running and increasingly arduous efforts to burnish its image as it attempts to deal with its role in causing a string of disastrous and deadly wildfires in Northern California.
“The fire started in the area of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s power line on National Forest System land,” The U.S. Forest Service indicated to PG&E in an initial assessment of the situation, PG&E stated in a filing on Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Oakland-based PG&E is under intense scrutiny for its role in deadly wildfires in Northern California over the last decade and a lethal PG&E-caused gas explosion in San Bruno in 2010.
During the past decade, PG&E was found to have caused a string of catastrophic wildfires, including a deadly blaze in Amador County and Calaveras County in 2015, fatal infernos in the North Bay Wine Country and nearby regions in 2017, and a lethal conflagration in Butte County in 2018. PG&E’s equipment also touched off the Dixie Fire in 2021, which torched a vast area in parts of Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Shasta, and Tehama counties.
“The U.S. Forest Service is performing a criminal investigation into the 2022 Mosquito fire,” PG&E stated in the SEC filing Monday.
While the investigation represents a potential setback for PG&E, the actual financial impact of the fire may not be significant, according to Guggenheim Securities, a Wall Street investment firm. That’s because the cost of the fire could remain below the limits of insurance coverage, Guggenheim analysts said Monday.
“On Sept. 24, the U.S. Forest Service removed and took possession of one of the utility’s transmission poles and attached equipment,” PG&E stated in the SEC filing.
The Mosquito fire has torched about 76,800 acres and destroyed 78 structures since it began in the tinder-dry Sierra foothills. The fire, located in El Dorado and Placer counties, was 85% contained as of Monday.
PG&E, California’s largest utility, had already notified state regulators about an incident around the time the fire reportedly started on Sept. 6.
“Our information reflects electrical activity occurred close in time to the report time of the fire,” the PG&E filing with the state PUC said.
PG&E stated that its own investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.
“We remain focused on preventing major wildfires and safely delivering energy to our customers and hometowns,” PG&E said in a prepared release on Monday.
PG&E is also facing a lawsuit filed in connection with the fire.
“The U.S. Forest Service has not made a determination on the cause of the fire,” PG&E said Monday. “PG&E is cooperating with the U.S. Forest Service investigation. ”
Bloomberg News contributed to this report
Source: www.mercurynews.com