Victims of California's mega-fire will sue electricity company
LOS ANGELES -
Victims of California's most destructive wildfire have filed a lawsuit accusing Pacific Gas & Electric Co. of causing the massive blaze.
The suit filed on Tuesday in state court in California accuses the utility of failing to maintain its infrastructure and properly inspect and manage its power transmission lines.
The utility's president said earlier the company doesn't know what caused the fire, but is cooperating with the investigation by state agencies.
PG&E told state regulators last week that it experienced a problem with a transmission line in the area of the fire just before the blaze erupted.
A landowner near where the blaze began said PG&E notified her the day before the wildfire that crews needed to come onto her property because some wires were sparking.
A massive class action after Australia's last mega-fire, Victoria's Black Saturday in 2009, saw $688.5 million paid in compensation to thousands of claimants affected by the Kilmore-Kinglake and Murrindindi-Marysville fires, partly by electricity company SP Ausnet, and partly by government agencies.
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Electricity prices in Germany nearly doubled in a year
BERLIN - Record prices for electricity and gas in Germany will continue to rise in the coming months, the dpa agency, citing estimates from the consumer portal Verivox.
According to him, electricity suppliers, in whose area of responsibility there are 13 million households, made an announcement of tariff increases in April, May and June by 19.5%. Gas tariffs increased by an average of 42.3%.
According to Verivox, electricity prices in Germany have approximately doubled over the year - if previously a household with a consumption of 4,000 kWh paid 1,171 euros a year, now the amount has risen to 1,737 euros. Gas prices have risen even more: last year, a household…
