“Some stakeholders, however, remained critical of the certification, and questioned why the division granted PG&E the certification while also detailing problems with its wildfire mitigation processes.
“To me, this feels like a 16-year-old going to get their first drivers test and the DMV says, well, during the test you ran a red light and made an illegal U-turn and you probably hit and killed four pedestrians — but here’s your drivers license anyway,” April Rose Maurath Sommer, executive and legal director of the Wild Tree Foundation, said.
The issuance of the safety certification is conditioned on PG&E having an approved wildfire mitigation plan — but the process for approving that plan has been changed from one where the public had the opportunity to get involved to a more ministerial function, Maurath Sommer said.
“So there’s not an opportunity for legitimate, meaningful involvement by the public in the approval of the [plans] and that becomes the basis for the safety certification,” she added.”
-Utility Dive, CPUC safety certification eases PG&E access to wildfire insurance fund, prompting backlash (January 20, 2021) read more