Federal Judge Rips PG&E Vegetation Work

Everybody’s favorite punching bag in California, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), is yet again the subject of intense scrutiny over its vegetation work.  This time, it’s from the federal judge who is in charge of the company’s criminal probation.  PG&E can’t catch a break.  From gas explosions to forest fires to bankruptcy, this company is going through about as rough a time as I could imagine!

“Sloppy and Unreliable” Vegetation Work

First off, know that PG&E was placed on probation about 10 years ago following a natural gas pipeline explosion for which the company was found liable.  This is why there is a federal judge keeping close tabs on the company. 

The judge, William Alsup, essentially acts like an auditor, as his job is to keep PG&E under the microscope and scrutinize its policies and procedures.  Recently, most of the scrutiny has revolved around the Camp Fire and other wildfire catastrophes, and one of the key mitigation tactics that PG&E is doing to try and lower the risk going forward is vegetation management. 

The judge said in April 2020 that PG&E’s vegetation work “remains sloppy and unreliable.”  Ouch.  PG&E outsources its vegetation management, so the judge’s wrath was directed toward not only the work of the contractor, but also the oversight of this work by PG&E.

The judge was particularly displeased with the company’s inspection processes.  In order to facilitate an improvement in this area, the judge imposed some additional regulations on PG&E:

• The utility is now required to log the age of every piece of equipment along the transmission system.
• The utility is now required to hire its own inspectors, as opposed to completely outsourcing the inspection function, to assess and prioritize vegetation management efforts.
• The utility is now required to ensure contracted inspectors have insurance that covers wildfire losses.

Yes, PG&E can’t catch a break, and although some of this reality is self-imposed, the company seems to be in an almost no-win situation.  Hopefully the company will improve its inspection process and vegetation work to the point where judge Alsup is satisfied.  And hopefully, doing so will save lives and provide a boost to the company’s overall emergency preparedness!