Pacific Gas & Electric has agreed to plead guilty to 84 involuntary manslaughter counts in connection with the 2018 Camp Fire, the most destructive wildfire in California’s history, Reuters reported. The plea by California’s largest utility was announced yesterday by its parent PG&E Corp., three days after the utility accepted tighter oversight and pledged billions of dollars to improve safety and help wildfire victims, under an agreement California Governor Gavin Newsom (D). That agreement ended a major roadblock to PG&E’s planned emergence from chapter 11 bankruptcy, as Newsom devotes his attention to the coronavirus outbreak in his state. Pacific Gas & Electric said that it entered its plea through a March 17 agreement with the Butte County District Attorney’s office, which would end all state criminal proceedings against the San Francisco-based company related to the Camp Fire. The fire began on Nov. 8, 2018, and destroyed much of the town of Paradise, which had about 26,000 people, and nearby Concow. More than 18,000 buildings were destroyed. PG&E also pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully starting a fire.
