Investors in bonds issued by the utility Pacific Gas and Electric Company and its parent company (PG&E) filed a federal securities class action in the Northern District of California alleging that investigations of catastrophic wildfires in California in 2017 and 2018 revealed that PG&E had failed to take proper fire mitigation measures and that the company’s failures to do so directly contradicted representations made in offering documents for more than $4 billion worth of bonds. The complaint alleged that PG&E had been “implicated in directly causing the two most destructive wildfire events in California history in a span of only 13 months.” The complaint included allegations that PG&E had stated in offering documents that it had taken precautions to address climate change risks, including wildfire risks, but had failed to disclose “the heightened risk caused by PG&E’s own conduct and failure to comply with applicable regulations governing the maintenance of electrical lines, and the hundreds of fires that were already being ignited annually by the Company’s equipment.”

Federal securities class action brought by bond investors in PG&E in connection with California wildfires in 2017 and 2018.

York County v. Rambo

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Bond Investors Filed Securities Action Against PG&E for Misrepresenting Efforts to Address Wildfire Risks

Filed

United States of America

California

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

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Bond Investors Filed Securities Action Against PG&E for Misrepresenting Efforts to Address Wildfire Risks

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance