California power regulators are weighing a recommendation to back off plans to fine Pacific Gas and Electric an additional $462 million over a series of deadly Northern California wildfires rather than risk that the harsher punishment might scuttle the utility's plan to get out of bankruptcy, the Associated Press reported. The state's Public Utilities Commission is mulling whether to pare the penalties faced by PG&E as the result of a proposed revision floated by one of the agency's five commissioners, Clifford Rechtschaffen. A document detailing the proposal was made public on Monday. In another development, PG&E announced that it took steps to ensure it will not have to tap into a $13.5 billion fund set up for wildfire victims to pay a separate $4 million fine that will be imposed for the company's guilty plea to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from a 2018 inferno triggered by its outdated electrical grid. Last week, PG&E disclosed its bankruptcy plan required that financial penalties for the crimes would come from the victims' fund.
