Electrical power equipment owned by California’s largest utility company appeared to have malfunctioned in an area where the state’s deadliest wildfire started last week, according to a PG&E Corp. securities filing.
The cause of the Camp Fire, which has burned through some 117,000 acres in Northern California’s Butte County, remains under investigation. At least 42 people have died in the fire and more than 6,500 houses have been destroyed, officials said.
But if the company’s equipment is determined to be the cause of the fire, PG&E warned in the filing, it would face potential liabilities beyond its insurance coverage. As a result, the utility said, fire-related liabilities could significantly affect its financial condition.
PG&E PCG, -0.79% , owner of Pacific Gas & Electric Co., said it sent the California Public Utilities Commission an electric incident report on Thursday indicating a power failure on a transmission line in Butte County at 6:15 a.m. Pacific Standard Time that day. PG&E also is facing mounting liabilities from last year’s wildfires that left more than 40 people dead and ravaged more than 245,000 acres of land, causing billions of dollars in damages.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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