In the wake of wildfires and anger over massive power safety blackouts, California’s governor announced on Friday the appointment of an “energy czar’ to accelerate the resolution of the bankruptcy case facing the state’s largest utility company, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). At a news conference on Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom said the czar will ” help guide the company, Pacific Gas & Electric, out of bankruptcy and develop models for utilities to better serve the public while addressing the threats of wildfires and climate change”. The governor also suggested the state could take over the utility.

If PG&E is unable to secure its own future…then the state will prepare itself as backup for a scenario where we do that job for them.

PG&E faces $30 billion in wildfire lawsuits from 2017 and 2018 blamed on their equipment. During the height of Santa Ana Wind conditions last week PG&E shutoff power to over 2 million customers from Northern California to the Nevada border in what was called power safety shutoffs.

The utility reports a transmission tower broke right before Kincade Fire in Sonoma County broke out last week.

November 8th marks the one year anniversary of the Camp Fire which leveled the town of Paradise and resulted in the deaths of 85 people. It is the deadliest fire in U.S. history in more than 100 years, 12,000 structures were also lost. An investigation determined PG&E power lines ignited the blaze.