A court-appointed investigator has found that PG&E Corp. is still missing dangerous trees in its quest to keep limbs from crashing into power lines and igniting major wildfires.
Mark Filip, a Chicago lawyer who is the court-appointed monitor in the utility’s criminal probation, reported this week that the utility’s “enhanced vegetation management program” appeared to backslide this year after making strides in late 2019.
The monitor said the number of “missed hazard trees,” after declining late last year after a critical report, has risen again.
In one case, Filip said his team spotted just three weeks ago a tree that was supposed to have been pulled down in mid-August. The leaves on the tree actually made contact with utility equipment and the leaves were singed. The tree has since been removed.
