PG&E Ordered to Explain How It Missed Rusty Hooks Near Camp Fire

(Bloomberg) -- The judge overseeing PG&E Corp.’s criminal probation ordered the utility to explain how its equipment inspections overlooked rusty, worn hooks on power transmission towers near the origin of California’s deadliest wildfire.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup issued the order Wednesday in response to a report by an expert witness with photographs of rusty c-hooks on a transmission line near the site of the 2018 Camp Fire in the Sierra foothills that killed 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise. Alsup directed the utility to provide full details and records of its own inspections.

The San Francisco judge has shown keen interest in PG&E equipment failures that have been blamed for multiple wildfires in recent years as he continues to press the company to improve its fire safety protocols.

California investigators concluded last year that a worn c-hook that allowed a jumper cable to fail, sparking the Camp Fire. State regulators said that PG&E could have prevented it by conducting proper inspections and repairs.

Read More: PG&E Power Line With Worn Hooks Was Flagged in Prior Report

Alsup asked about c-hooks examined by Thomas Hylton, an power line expert hired by plaintiffs lawyers who have sued PG&E on behalf of wildfire victims. Hylton told the judge he photographed c-hooks on the Cresta-Rio Oso power line running parallel to the Caribou Palermo line, which is believed to have started the Camp fire.

The worn hooks are “a couple hundred feet away” from the failed equipment, Hylton told the judge.

Hylton, who told Alsup of his long history working on and supervising power lines, said some of the hooks were heavily worn and were clearly dangerous. “If I had c-hooks that are 30% worn, I’d replace them,” he said.

PG&E lawyer Kevin Orsini told Alsup that when the utility received Hylton’s letter describing the worn hooks it “sprung into action.” Inspectors had examined the hooks and either missed the wear or previously concluded that they didn’t warrant replacement, Orsini said. The company has since determined that the worn c-hooks will be replaced by mid-March, he said.

“To me, this looks like significant wear,” Alsup said, referring to Hylton’s photos of the worn hooks. PG&E wants to “take a chance and gamble on that? I think you ought to get to the bottom of it instead of saying maybe they made a professional judgment that it was ok,” Alsup said referring to PG&E’s inspectors.

Alsup blasted PG&E’s “spin,” and ordered the report by March 2.

--With assistance from Mark Chediak and David R. Baker.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco at jrosenblatt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg, Joe Ryan

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