PG&E Corp. said it aims to shrink the breadth and duration of intentional blackouts during California’s wildfire season as part of a $2.6 billion plan aimed at improving safety, Bloomberg News reported. The bankrupt utility giant wants to reduce the average geographic reach of deliberate blackouts by one-third and will try to restore power to affected areas 12 daylight hours after unsafe conditions pass. The goals were outlined in a wildfire mitigation proposal that was filed with state regulators on Friday. PG&E, forced into bankruptcy after its equipment was blamed for sparking deadly wildfires, took the extreme measure of widespread shutoffs last year as a way to prevent blazes during dangerous weather. The blackouts resulted in more than 2 million people losing power at one point, provoking outrage as lives were disrupted and billions of dollars in economic activity were lost.
