Thread by @NicholasIovino

Judge Alsup is holding a hearing this morning in San Francisco on PG&E's criminal probation. He will decide whether to impose new conditions requiring PG&E to hire adequate staff to clear hazard trees and limbs, and to tie executive bonuses exclusively to safety. @CourthouseNews

@CourthouseNews "Can you imagine this wonderful state, the fifth largest economy in the world, is in the position where we cannot safely deliver power during windstorms," -- Judge Alsup on PG&E's widespread power shutoffs to prevent wildfires during wind storms.

@CourthouseNews "The reason for that is because PG&E has allowed the backlog of hazard trees to grow to the point where it’s now going to take 8 years to clear out," Judge Alsup said.

@CourthouseNews "While they are under my supervision, I’ll do everything I can to protect the people of California from more death and destruction form this convicted felon," - Judge Alsup on PG&E's criminal probation ending in 23 months after a five-year term.

@CourthouseNews "You’re not even close to perfect. You put all that $ to the investors, $5 billion n 3 years. Most of that money should have been used to clear vegetation. Ppl died because of that decision," Judge Alsup after PG&E lawyer said it can never be in "perfect compliance" w/ state laws

@CourthouseNews "It’s not even close to perfect. If it was close to perfect, we wouldn’t even be here. The US Attorneys Office ought to be prosecuting now ... Your company poses a threat to the safety of Californians. You’re trying to excuse it rather than admit that," Judge Alsup said.

@CourthouseNews PG&E lawyer Kevin Orsini: "It’s a human system. It can never be 100% prefect. That doesn’t me don’t strive for perfection. In terms of where we are today, PG&E is a new company, a fundamentally different company than where it was when your honor started having these hearings."

@CourthouseNews PG&E lawyer on proposed probation term that would make PG&E hire more tree workers in-house: "The imposition of this condition will make the state less safe, not more safe. PG&E like other utilities utilizes contracted tree workers to do this work."

@CourthouseNews PG&E lawyer K Orsini: "If we have to have PG&E hire them, we have to build the infrastructure, administrative backbone, we have to fundamentally change the processes in place now ... Bringing them into PG&E is going to add another system that’s going to add to the complexity"

@CourthouseNews PG&E lawyer Kevin Orsini on making PG&E hire tree workers in-house: "Making them PG&E employees will have any impact on speeding up the rate that we can add to the workforce. We believe asking us to create this entire new work stream is guaranteed to [cause problems]."

@CourthouseNews Now discussing a worn C-hook found on a transmission tower near the tower where a C-hook snap & started the Camp Fire in 2019, which killed 85 people and destroyed more than 18,000 buildings.

@CourthouseNews Judge Alsup asks why two inspections failed to identify significant wear on the C-hook of a transmission tower in Butte County.

Judge Alsup: "That inspector goofed. We could have had fatal consequences"

@CourthouseNews PG&E lawyer: "It could be because [the inspector] decided it didn’t rise to the level of requiring work."

Alsup: "It could also be because they totally missed it. Throughout this process, I get answers like this from PG&E all the time. You put the best possible spin."

@CourthouseNews Judge Alsup: "To me this looks like significant wear. To take a chance, to gamble on that, that could have been serious .... I think you ought to get to the bottom of that, instead of saying, 'Maybe they made a professional judgment that it was okay.'"

@CourthouseNews Now on a 15 minute break.

When Alsup comes back, he will discuss a proposed probation term to deny PG&E executives bonuses unless the company meets safety targets for reducing wildfire risk.

@CourthouseNews PG&E lawyer Reid Schar on why Judge Alsup should not tie exec bonuses solely to safety: "The state made clear in AB 1054 that the issue here is predominantly safety, but the state has also made clear that there is a substantial interest in the financial viability of the utility"

@CourthouseNews Alsup: "California should be thinking at this critical point what should be the structure of this company if it’s even going to stay as a private company. In 5 years, won’t we be in the same mess all over again w/ the company not doing the maintenance it’s supposed to be doing?"

@CourthouseNews Judge Alsup: "The people on Wall Street are lying low now. They know they have to. When the danger passes, they will be at the door with their hand out and influencing management to pay more dividends."

@CourthouseNews Judge Alsup says he will take more time to think about PG&E's arguments before rendering a decision on the proposed probation conditions. He also wants more info on inspections of a worn C-hook in Butte County.