Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has met the statutory criteria to receive a safety certification from the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (Energy Safety). The safety certification is being issued today and will remain in effect for 12 months.
Issuance of the safety certification does not constitute an affirmation by Energy Safety that PG&E has taken all possible steps to prevent its equipment from causing wildfires. Nor does it shield PG&E from liability or litigation.
The safety certification validates that PG&E has documented completion of statutory (Pub. Util. Code § 8389(e)(1)-(7)) actions related to safety and is working toward becoming safer. As set forth in state statute, completion of these actions and issuance of the safety certification allows the utility to seek recovery of catastrophic wildfire costs from its ratepayers, or from the California Wildfire Fund (administered by the California Earthquake Authority) if applicable, using a burden of proof test provided in the statute. (Pub. Util. Code § 451.1(b))
It is Energy Safety’s assessment that PG&E has additional work to complete, but is taking steps to improve its operations and culture. This has been documented through the safety certification process. Energy Safety expects PG&E to address all safety culture assessment findings and make significant progress toward building a sustained safety culture.
Please see the Safety Certification FAQs for more information.