PG&E Corp.’s board must tour the Butte County community where the company’s equipment is suspected of starting a historically devastating wildfire last year, a federal judge said Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup made the decision at a sentencing hearing he held for the utility regarding a violation of its probation arising from the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion. Alsup previously found the utility did not properly report a settlement it reached with Butte County regarding its involvement in a 2017 fire.
Alsup directed parties in the case to propose specific language regarding the new probation conditions by May 14.
Alsup wants PG&E directors by mid-July to tour the community of Paradise, which was almost completely destroyed by the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history. The inferno killed 85 people and destroyed some 14,000 homes, and PG&E admitted the state will likely find it responsible. The company filed for bankruptcy protection less than three months after the fire.