PG&E is being criticized as a "continuing threat" to public safety due to its role in wildfires, even as its probation ends.

• On Wednesday, a federal judge declared Pacific Gas & Electric a "continuing menace" to California due to its role in igniting wildfires, as the utility prepares to end a five-year felony probation.
• In its probation period, PG&E caused at least 31 wildfires that burned over 1.5 million acres and resulted in the deaths of 113 individuals, as stated by U.S. District Judge William Alsup in his report.
• Since its conviction of crimes related to a 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion in California, Alsup has overseen PG&E's probation. The utility's probation will end on January 25.

On Wednesday, a federal judge deemed California a "continuing menace" due to its role in causing deadly wildfires, as the utility prepares to end its five-year felony probation.

In a report, U.S. District Judge William Alsup stated that during its probation, PG&E-owned equipment caused at least 31 wildfires that burned over 1.5 million acres and resulted in the deaths of 113 people.

During PG&E's probation, all of the fires ignited by its distribution lines were caused by hazard trees. Alsup described the company's backlog of unattended trees and vegetation at the beginning of its probation as "staggering" and urged the company to stop outsourcing to independent contractors, who he claimed had performed "sloppy inspection and clearance work."

Since its conviction of crimes related to a 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion in California, Alsup has overseen PG&E's probation. The company's probation is set to end on Jan. 25.

Alsup wrote that PG&E has engaged in criminal behavior and will remain a threat to California after emerging from probation.

Alsup wrote that in probation, the goal is to rehabilitate criminal offenders by teaching them to take responsibility for their actions. However, during the five years of probation, PG&E has refused to accept responsibility for its actions until it was convenient or necessary to do so.

In recent years, the state's wildfires have been linked to the company's equipment, with a recent investigation revealing that PG&E transmission lines caused the Dixie Fire, which burned over 1 million acres and destroyed over 1,300 homes last summer. This fire was the second-largest in California's history.

In 2019, PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the 2018 Camp Fire, which was the deadliest wildfire in California's history. Additionally, the company faces five felony and 28 misdemeanor counts in the 2019 Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, as well as numerous other civil and criminal actions for its alleged responsibility in causing wildfires.

The judge stated that California will continue to experience PG&E wildfires due to the company's failure to perform proper hazard-tree removal and vegetation clearance, as mandated by California's Public Resource Code.

PG&E has attributed the wildfires to global warming, drought, and bark beetles. However, Alsup stated that these factors were reasons to increase compliance rather than relax. Furthermore, he pointed out that these factors did not cause the fires, but rather PG&E did.

PG&E spokesperson James Noonan stated that the company values feedback from the court, federal monitor, and other stakeholders and is committed to ensuring the safety of its employees and customers.

Noonan stated that PG&E has become a safer company due to its focus on making its system safer and preventing catastrophic wildfires. The company is committed to continuing this work in the future.

The company revealed plans to bury 10,000 miles of power lines in the highest fire threat districts to reduce the role of its equipment in starting fires.