California utility PG&E will pay $1 billion to a group of 14 public entities — including city and county governments — that brought claims against the company for its involvement in deadly wildfires dating back to 2015; it remains unclear when the group will actually be paid, or if they'll be paid at all, since PG&E is in the middle of messy bankruptcy proceedings.
Why it matters: It's the first settlement in what could be a series of payouts to others seeking to recoup losses from wildfires PG&E's power lines have been deemed responsible for sparking. This settlement is a relatively small dollar amount compared to the company's own estimation that it could be on the hook for $30 billion in liability costs. Residents and insurers (unaffected by this settlement) are among the other groups still looking to be paid by PG&E.
