The Fresno Bee: PG&E’s plan to bury power lines is expensive. There is another way to cut fire risk | Opinion

“Another critic, April Rose Maurath Sommer, executive and legal director of the Wild Tree Foundation, has said that PG&E has struggled to keep a workforce for vegetation clearing work. She questions if the same problem would hinder undergrounding. PG&E itself noted the workforce challenge in a filing in June with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.”

-The Fresno Bee,  PG&E’s plan to bury power lines is expensive. There is another way to cut fire risk | Opinion (October 29, 2023) read more

 

Utility Dive: PG&E Corp. CEO touts efforts to prevent fires, but some say it’s ignoring the most effective measure

“April Rose Maurath Sommer, executive and legal director of the Wild Tree Foundation, said the utility has not been focused on the most effective technique for strengthening its infrastructure and preventing it from causing fires, which is installing covered conductors or insulated power lines.”

-Utility Dive, PG&E Corp. CEO touts efforts to prevent fires, but some say it’s ignoring the most effective measure (July 28, 2023) read more

San Francisco Chronicle: This is how PG&E says it will try to prevent wildfires in 2021

“Focusing on tree trimming and preemptive power shut-offs is a fundamentally flawed approach, said April Rose Maurath Sommer, the executive and legal director of Wild Tree Foundation.

‘Their focus continues to be, as far as I can tell, what are the two least-effective techniques for decreasing wildfire ignitions from utility infrastucture,’ Sommer said. More effective and cheaper would be using “covered conductors,” or covering bare wires with plastic she added.

About 171 miles of high-risk wires and equipment were “hardened” in 2019 by putting them underground or adding insulation, the report said. The company plans to complete another 180 miles this year.

Sommer said the progress was far too slow to make a difference.”

-San Francisco Chronicle, This is how PG&E says it will try to prevent wildfires in 2021 (February 5, 2021) read more

Utility Dive: CPUC safety certification eases PG&E access to wildfire insurance fund, prompting backlash

“Some stakeholders, however, remained critical of the certification, and questioned why the division granted PG&E the certification while also detailing problems with its wildfire mitigation processes.

“To me, this feels like a 16-year-old going to get their first drivers test and the DMV says, well, during the test you ran a red light and made an illegal U-turn and you probably hit and killed four pedestrians — but here’s your drivers license anyway,” April Rose Maurath Sommer, executive and legal director of the Wild Tree Foundation, said.

The issuance of the safety certification is conditioned on PG&E having an approved wildfire mitigation plan — but the process for approving that plan has been changed from one where the public had the opportunity to get involved to a more ministerial function, Maurath Sommer said.

“So there’s not an opportunity for legitimate, meaningful involvement by the public in the approval of the [plans] and that becomes the basis for the safety certification,” she added.”

-Utility Dive, CPUC safety certification eases PG&E access to wildfire insurance fund, prompting backlash (January 20, 2021) read more

San Francisco Chronicle: California regulators move closer to approving PG&E’s exit from bankruptcy

“April Rose Maurath Sommer, executive and legal director of the Wild Tree Foundation, a group involved in the regulatory proceedings, said she thought the commission didn’t go far enough. She had appealed the $2.14 billion penalty decision even before Rechtschaffen sought to change it, and she wanted the commission to preserve its ability to investigate the company’s conduct surrounding 2017 and 2018 fires.

Allowing PG&E to avoid the $200 million fine altogether is “the worst possible message you can send to the utility,” she said.

“It informs them that even when the commission has determined that a utility should be fined, if they are able to use some cunning and clever lawyering, they’re not going to have to pay,” she said. “It’s very disturbing.””

-San Francisco Chronicle, California regulators move closer to approving PG&E’s exit from bankruptcy (April 21, 2020) read more

San Francisco Chronicle: CPUC Judge Approves Settlement with PG&E With Slightly Improved Terms over Proposed Sweetheart Deal

February 27, 2020

An Administrative Law Judge has issued a decision approving a settlement between CPUC staff and PG&E for the dozens of violations of law that PG&E committed that caused 19 fires in Northern California in 2017 and 2018.  This settlement includes illegal activity that resulted in the highly deadly and destructive Wine Country Fires and the Camp Fire, the most destructive fire in California history.  The decision modifies the sweetheart deal for PG&E that CPUC staff had originally agreed to that would have assessed $0 fine, let PG&E benefit from tax deductions for the supposed “penalties,” and otherwise let PG&E off with a mere slap on the wrist. 

Wild Tree played a key role in arguing against the terms of the original proposed settlement agreement especially the no fine fine and we are glad to see that a $200 million fine had been included in the amended deal approved by the ALJ.   Unfortunately, Wild Tree and partner PG&E customer Thomas Del Monte,  have not yet been successful in compelling the CPUC to truly investigate the cause of the Tubbs Fire and to investigate the possibility that PG&E has known since 1987 that the piece of equipment that failed outside of Paradise, California igniting the Camp Fire (C-hook) risks failure throughout its territory.   The ALJ’s decision does not change the terms of the settlement that effectively bar any further CPUC action against PG&E for such malfeasance. 

“April Rose Maurath Sommer, the executive and legal director of the Wild Tree Foundation, a group involved in the regulatory proceedings, told The Chronicle in an email that she planned to appeal the decision, calling it “insufficient” to address PG&E’s wildfire-related misdeeds.”  – San Francisco Chronicle,  PG&E penalty from 2017, 2018 fires could grow 27%  read more

San Diego Union Tribune: CPUC approves ratepayer bailout for future utility-caused fires

Oct. 24, 2019

“April Maurath Sommer, executive director of the Wild Tree Foundation, an environmental group based in the Bay Area, said the quick approval of safety certifications amounted to a ‘rubber stamp’ and criticized how the new law shifted the burden from utilities having to prove they acted responsibly onto customer advocates needing to show power companies acted negligently.  ‘It’s a David and Goliath situation now,’ Maurath Sommer said. ‘There’s an assumption of safety here that the utilities don’t deserve.'” -San Diego Union Tribune, Rob Nikolewski, California regulators approve funding for controversial wildfire law, Assembly Bill 1054 creates a $21 billion fund for fires caused by utility equipment

Read more

Wild Tree opposes California ratepayers being forced to contribute to the AB 1054 wildfire insurance fund as an unconstitutional taking of property without due process and as unjust, unreasonable, and unsafe.  Unfortunately, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently voted to approve a rate increase for the fund, thus approving a pre-bailout for future utility-caused fires.  

Under this scheme, CPUC staff awards an investor owned utility (IOU) a “safety certificate” based on very low bar and the IOU is then presumed to have not be at fault for any fires they cause for the following year.  SCE and SDG&E were granted a rubber stamped safety certificate 6 days after they submitted their requests.

If an IOU causes a fire, it can use the wildfire insurance fund to pay out claims to victims.  The fund is paid for by ratepayers with an electricity bill increase.  While there are some IOU  “stockholder contributions” to the fund, stockholders make their money off the backs of ratepayers and the IOUs are all asking for increased rates of return so any stockholder contributions really derive from rates. 

If parties that voluntarily engage in CPUC proceedings, such as small non-profits like Wild Tree and individual ratepayers, can prove that the IOU was negligent, reckless, and/or imprudent in causing a fire then the IOU might have to reimburse the fund. BUT, this reimbursement is capped over a three year period.  The cap is set at 20% of the utility’s transmission and distribution equity rate base, less any actual or pending reimbursements during the prior three-years. For example, PG&E reimbursement cap would be approximately $2.5 billion. 

PG&E has yet to meet the requirements to take part in the fund but the bankruptcy and all sorts of PG&E-related proceedings at the CPUC are being unreasonably rushed so it can take advantage of the fund.  Assuming PG&E continues business as usual, under AB 1054, if an PG&E causes a future fire and the damage claims exceed $2.5 billion, even if Wild Tree or other parties could overcome a presumption of safety based upon a safety certificate and show that PG&E acted wrongly, the IOU will still be able to rely on ratepayer funds to pay damage claims for a fire it caused due to business decisions.  If it caused other fires within 3 years, it might not have to reimburse the fund for any of the costs of successive fires so long as that $2.5 billion cap is reached. This creates a major disincentive for PG&E to prioritize safety over profits and is precisely the sort of deregulation of for-profit, private electric utilities that California does not need!

San Francisco Chronicle: CPUC Denies PG&E Opportunity for Ratepayer Bailout for Napa-Sonoma Fires

June 28, 2019

The CPUC has issued a decision approving a “stress test” methodology that SCE could use to get a ratepayer-funded bailout for the Thomas Fire even if it is deemed to have acted imprudently and caused the fire.  In an unexpected, but welcome, move, the CPUC prohibited PG&E for using this stress test  to recover costs from the Napa-Sonoma Fires. 

“‘This is a big blow for PG&E,’ said April Rose Maurath Sommer, the executive and legal director of the Wild Tree Foundation, which was involved in the regulatory proceedings. ‘That aspect of the decision is very good.’  She said the stress test could still potentially be used by Southern California Edison, whose equipment state investigators have said sparked the 2017 Thomas Fire.”  -San Francisco Chronicle, PG&E probably barred from new path for raising rates because of 2017 fires read more

 

 

San Francisco Chronicle: Regulators race to give PG&E a path to raise rates for wildfire costs

April 22, 2019

Wild Tree Foundation is pushing back against California Public Utilities Commission efforts to approve a blueprint for a PG&E bailout for the Napa-Sonoma Fires.

“April Rose Maurath Sommer, the executive and legal director of Wild Tree Foundation, said “in an ideal world,” regulators would dismiss the proceeding. She thinks the stress test provision was included in 2018 legislation, SB901, to stave off a PG&E bankruptcy, which happened anyway.  “The only reason I can see that the commission is interested in pushing this proceeding so quickly and so aggressively is they consider it their role that they improve the outlook of PG&E for investors,” Maurath Sommer said. “The commission’s role is not to protect PG&E. It’s not to protect the utilities. It’s to protect the ratepayers.” -San Francisco Chronicle, Regulators race to give PG&E a path to raise rates for wildfire costs read more

Los Angles Times/San Diego Union Tribune: Mixed Reaction to Newsom’s Strike Force Report on California Wildfires

April 12, 2019

Governor Newsom’s Strike Force report on Wildfires and Climate Change: California’s Energy Future has some good ideas but a reversal of strict liability/inverse condemnation for utility-caused fires is not one of them.

“April Maurath Sommer, a longtime defender of inverse condemnation, said the doctrine does not need to be modified. Changing inverse condemnation “is a distraction,” said Maurath Sommer, the executive director of the Wild Tree Foundation, an environmental and consumer group based in the San Francisco Bay Area. “The utilities’ negligent practices have caused these fires and that is what we’re dealing with and that is what needs to be addressed.”- Los Angles Times/San Diego Union Tribune, Mixed Reaction to Newsom’s Strike Force Report on California Wildfires  read more