Customers Can’t Sue PG&E for Losses During Power Shutoffs, Court Finds

Pacific Gas and Electric customers in California can’t sue the utility company for financial losses that occur during public safety power shutoffs, the California Supreme Court ruled Nov. 20. The utility, which delivers electricity to nearly 16 million Californians, sometimes shuts off power delivery during extreme weather conditions, such as high winds and low humidity, to prevent wildfires. In June 2022, the California Supreme Court voted to review a class-action lawsuit in bankruptcy court by California citizen Anthony Gantner in 2019 against PG&E and its parent company PG&E Corporation. In the legal claim, Mr. Gantner said the company’s shutoffs in the fall of 2019 left him and other California residents and business owners without power for many days. They sought $2.5 billion to compensate for making their homes uninhabitable, loss of refrigerated food, loss of cell phone service, expenses for alternative means of lighting and power, dangerous dark conditions, lack of running water, and loss of productivity and business....