California’s largest utility has pleaded guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter connected to 2018’s Camp Fire.
Pacific Gas and Electric settled with the Butte County district attorney’s office on March 17, according to the Los Angeles Times. Prosecutors agreed to not bring any more charges against the company for the Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in California history.
“The Utility will be sentenced to pay the maximum total fine and penalty of approximately $3.5 million. The Agreement provides that no other or additional sentence will be imposed on the Utility in the criminal action in connection with the 2018 Camp fire,” PG&E said in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The Utility has also agreed to pay $500,000 to the Butte County District Attorney Environmental and Consumer Protection Fund to reimburse costs spent on the investigation of the 2018 Camp fire,” it continued.
The Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 14,000 homes in 2018. The fire, which state agencies said was sparked by faulty PG&E equipment, all but destroyed the town of Paradise. The blaze razed at least 95% of the structures in the town.
In the years leading up to the fire, the utility proposed making repairs to power lines and equipment in the area of Paradise but consistently failed to perform the work. The utility has said its equipment may have started 10 other wildfires across the state, as well.
