California regulators proposed PG&E Corp. pay $155.4 million in fines and take other corrective measures for violations related to a deadly 2020 wildfire, Bloomberg News reported. The Zogg Fire started when a gray pine tree fell onto a PG&E power line in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where it burned 56,338 acres, caused four deaths and one injury and destroyed 204 structures, the California Public Utilities Commission said Tuesday in a statement. Investigators with the commission uncovered multiple violations by PG&E in connection with the blaze, the agency said. PG&E, California’s largest utility, has 30 days to pay the penalty or request a hearing. The company said that it was reviewing the proposal. “We share the CPUC’s commitment to improve safety, and we believe any potential financial penalties should be directed for the benefit of our customers, and to keeping our hometowns safe,” PG&E said in a statement. In June, PG&E pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and other charges for the Zogg fire. The company declared bankruptcy in 2019 after its equipment was blamed for igniting a series of deadly wind-driven fires. The company emerged from chapter 11 in 2020.
