The California utility, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, recorded a $10.5 billion charge to pay damage claims to victims of the Camp Fire.
Pacific Gas & Electric said Thursday that its equipment probably caused the Camp Fire, the catastrophic November blaze that destroyed thousands of homes in Paradise, Calif., and killed at least 86 people.
PG&E, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, said it had recorded a $10.5 billion charge in anticipation of damage claims for that fire, the deadliest in state history. Largely as a result, the company reported a $6.9 billion loss for 2018.
Though the cause of the fire is still under official investigation by California officials, PG&E said it “believes it is probable that its equipment will be determined to be an ignition point of the 2018 Camp Fire.” Attempts to determine the cause of the fire center on the 56-mile Caribou-Palermo electric transmission line.
