SACRAMENTO, Calif. — If you are a PG&E electric or gas customer, you've probably received a notice in the last few days, by mail, email or both. It's a letter about a deadline to file a claim against PG&E.
Just because you receive the letter doesn't mean you have a claim, the document says. The notice is meant for people impacted by the fires linked to PG&E's equipment.
What's the filing deadline?
If you or someone you know think you're owed money by PG&E for any damage caused by a wildfire linked to their equipment, you have until Oct. 21, 2019 to submit your claim.
Which wildfires are eligible?
Many of us are well aware that PG&E's equipment was blamed for causing last November's deadly Camp Fire that killed 85 people, but which are the other fires, again? At the bottom of the online notice, in fine print, some of the others are listed.
“The Northern California Fires include, but are not limited to, the following,” the notice says. “37, Adobe, Atlas, Blue, Butte, Camp, Cascade, Cherokee…Honey, La Porte, Lobo, Maacama, McCourtney, Norrbom, Nuns, Partrick, Pocket, Point, Pressley, Pythian (a.k.a. Oakmont), Redwood, Sullivan, Sulphur, and Tubbs.”
That list also includes the Ghost Ship fire, a 2016 Oakland Warehouse fire, which killed 36 people.
All of these claims, by the way, have to be from fire damage that happened before PG&E's bankruptcy filing date of Jan. 29, 2019.
So what does this mean for PG&E?
This doesn't mean PG&E is admitting to causing all these fires. The bankruptcy court is simply asking for people to submit all claims from all of the fires possibly caused by PG&E. Essentially, the judge wants to know just how much money in claims PG&E might have to payout.
What if you have no fire damage?
If none of this applies to you, you can just go ahead ignore the letter.
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