Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement of PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) entered bankruptcy in 2019 following several catastrophic wildfires in its service territory. In D.20-05-053, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved a reorganization plan, allowing PG&E to emerge from bankruptcy with specific financial and operational conditions. To ensure PG&E is accountable for improving its safety record, including the need to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire caused by its infrastructure, the decision instituted a new Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement (EOE) Process to supplement the Commission’s existing enforcement authority.

The EOE process for PG&E has six steps triggered by specific findings or threshold events, allowing the CPUC to closely monitor PG&E’s performance in delivering safe, reliable, affordable, clean energy. Triggering events that can lead to enforcement action include failure to make sufficient progress on specified safety and operational metrics (SOMs) or risk-driven investments. Information on the SOMs can be found here.

On April 15, 2021, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) placed Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) into the first step of the CPUC’s Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement Process. The CPUC’s action was based on PG&E’s failure to sufficiently prioritize clearing vegetation on its highest-risk power lines as part of its wildfire mitigation work in 2020. PG&E has been ordered to make corrective actions to ensure it improves its safety performance.

The CPUC designed the Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement Process as a condition for approving PG&E’s plan for exiting bankruptcy in May 2020. The Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement Process provides a clear roadmap for how the CPUC closely monitors PG&E’s performance in delivering safe, reliable, affordable, clean energy. The process does not supplant existing CPUC regulatory or enforcement jurisdiction and does not limit the CPUC’s authority to pursue other enforcement actions. These efforts to monitor PG&E are part of many actions the CPUC is taking to hold PG&E accountable for making its system safer and mitigating wildfire threat.

See CPUC Resolution M-4852 placing PG&E in Step 1 of the Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement Process.

Please see our press release and Resolution from Dec. 1, 2022 removing PG&E from Step 1 following completing of required corrective actions.

This page will be updated with PG&E’s progress reports and information on Stakeholder Workshops as they are scheduled.

Workshops

Upcoming Workshops

Please check the events calendar for any upcoming workshops. 

Prior Workshops

PG&E Corrective Action Plan Workshop #2
    PG&E Corrective Action Plan Workshop #1

    Related Documents

    December 1, 2022 Press Release: CPUC Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement of PG&E Results in Vegetation Management Improvements

    August 1, 2022: PG&E’s Corrective Action Plan 90-Day Report

    May 3, 2022: PG&E’s Corrective Action Plan 90-Day Report

    February 2, 2022: PG&E’s Corrective Action Plan 90-Day Report

    November 4, 2021: PG&E’s Corrective Action Plan 90-Day Report

    November 1, 2021: Executive Director's Letter to PG&E re: Corrective Action Plan

    August 18, 2021: CPUC President Batjer's Letter to PG&E re: CPUC fact-finding to determine whether a recommendation to advance PG&E further within the Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement process is warranted

    August 05, 2021: CPUC Sets Scope for PG&E Independent Safety Monitor

    August 4, 2021: PG&E’s Corrective Action Plan 90-Day Report

    June 30, 2021: CPUC Letter and Data Request to PG&E Following Corrective Plan Workshop

    June 4, 2021 Administrative Law Judge’s Ruling Providing Staff Recommendations for Comment

    PG&E Corrective Action Plan May 6, 2021: Full text of the Corrective Action Plan submitted by PG&E pursuant to the requirements of Resolution M-4852. This revised version was served by PG&E via email on May 7, 2021.

    April 15, 2021 Press Release: Announcing PG&E’s placement in Step 1 of the Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement Process

    Resolution M-4852: Placing PG&E into Step 1 of the Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement Process adopted in D.20-05-053.

    November 24, 2020: Letter to PG&E regarding CPUC staff conducting fact-finding to determine whether a recommendation to place PG&E into the enhanced oversight and enforcement process that was a condition of approval of PG&E’s plan of reorganization, is warranted due to what appears to be a pattern of vegetation and asset management deficiencies that implicate PG&E’s ability to provide safe, reliable service to customers.

    • November 25, 2020: PG&E's response to CPUC President Batjer's November 24, 2020 letter

    CPUC Decision 20-05-053: Approving PG&E’s exit from Bankruptcy and adopting the Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement Process (detailed in Appendix A).

    Comments on Draft Resolution M-4864 
    1. Robert Johnston, Professor Emeritus at UC Davis
    2. Indivisible CA GreenTeam
    3. Lake County
    4. Jennie Dushek, private citizen Santa Cruz
    5. Public Advocates/TURN
    6. RCRC CSAC
    7. Environmental Committee of Women's Club
    8. PG&E

    Related Enforcement Actions

    Administrative Enforcement Order for PG&E for Zogg Fire

    Penalties for PG&E for 2019 Kincade Wildfire

    Penalties for PG&E for Poor Execution of Certain 2020 PSPS Events

    See Also: Enforcement and Citations

    Related Safety Monitoring

    Safety and Operational Metrics (SOMs)

    Nov. 22, 2021:  CPUC Issues Citations to PG&E for Safety Code Violations

    Oct. 25, 2021: President Batjer’s letter to PG&E regarding Fast Trip settings

    September 17, 2021: CPUC Issues Safety Metrics Proposal to Improve Utility Risk Mitigation and Safety Performance 

    August 24, 2021: CPUC Letter to PG&E re: management and removal of burned and felled wood following wildfires

    June 25, 2021: Executive Director's Letter to PG&E re: Implementation of Tree Overstrike Criteria

    PG&E Safety Notifications