Sonoma County District Attorney Announces Results of Third Annual Compliance Report from PG&E Independent Monitor

Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez announced today that the Independent Monitor held its third annual meeting this Wednesday, and released its Third Annual Compliance Report, related to its oversight of the Pacific Gas & Electric Company (“PG&E”). The Independent Monitor, Filsinger Energy Partners, was appointed in April 2022 to monitor PG&E’s compliance with various safety measures imposed upon the company by a Stipulated Judgment between the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office and PG&E and ordered by Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Patrick Broderick on April 8, 2022, related to the 2019 Kincade Fire.

District Attorney Rodriguez stated, “This week my office met once again with the PG&E Independent Monitor to learn about their efforts during this past year to ensure PGE’s compliance with the 2022 court order imposing fire safety measures. By all accounts PG&E continues to demonstrate their commitment to remedy any deficiencies and comply with their legal requirements. We look forward to their continued efforts in this regard.”

The Kincade Fire was ignited by a failure on a PG&E transmission tower on October 23, 2019, located in the Geysers, a geothermal field in northern Sonoma County. The fire burned for 15 days, destroying more than 77,000 acres and hundreds of homes and structures. The fire also prompted the largest evacuation in Sonoma County history of almost 200,000 residents.

The Monitor will conduct oversight of PG&E for a period of five years, which commenced on April 11, 2022. The Monitor has complete access to all PG&E materials and inspection reports in Sonoma County. The Monitor reports regularly to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office regarding their observations. Any deficiencies reported by the Monitor may result in civil penalties or criminal prosecution if not promptly redressed by PG&E. The cost of the Monitor is borne solely by PG&E and may not be passed to ratepayers.

During the annual meeting, the Monitor reported to both the District Attorney’s Office and PG&E regarding its findings during the third year of supervision. These findings are detailed in the Monitor’s Third Annual Compliance Report. During the past year, the Monitor has reviewed PG&E inspection reports and conducted independent field inspections to review Transmission and Distribution assets and identify potential vegetation management issues. The findings for Year 3 included:

• The Monitor conducted quality assurance reviews of PG&E inspections of 176 transmission line assets and found no deficiencies.
• The Monitor conducted quality assurance reviews of PG&E inspections of 2,873 distribution assets across the county and identified one deficiency which was subsequently cured by PG&E.
• The Monitor conducted quality assurance reviews of 183 miles of PG&E inspections of its circuits to verify PG&E’s compliance with vegetation management regulations. Across these 183 miles, the Monitor team observed 29 deficiencies, that included hazardous trees and issues related to radial clearance. 26 of these deficiencies have been cured or remediated by PG&E and the remaining three are in the process of being remediated.
• The number of deficiencies decreased from Year 2 to Year 3 in all three categories of reviews referenced above.

In addition to being supervised by the independent Monitor, the Stipulated Judgment against PG&E imposed additional financial and performance obligations, including:

• PG&E has provided funding to the following local nonprofit organizations that have served members of the community impacted by wildfires: Conservation Corps North Bay, Nuestra Communidad, Council on Aging, Interfaith Shelter Network, Boys and Girls Club of Sonoma-Marin, Jameson Humane, Petaluma Health Center, West County Health Centers, Jewish Community Free Clinic, Alexander Valley Health Care, Sonoma Valley Community Health Center, and Fire Safe Sonoma.
• PG&E entered an MOU with the Santa Rosa Junior College to develop its curriculum and programs for Fire Safety and Vegetation Management. This has enabled the SRJC to offer for the first time the Utility Line Clearance Arboriculture Training Program.
• PG&E committed to creating and posting 100 new positions headquartered in or serving Sonoma County. To date, PG&E has filled 63 of those positions and is on track to exceed this required commitment.

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