SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

WHAT: Last week the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) denied San Diego Gas & Electric's (SDG&E) attempt to pass wildfire losses onto ratepayers from the 2007 San Diego Fires. In 2015 SDG&E petitioned CPUC to recover $379 million in costs from these fires, a portion of the over $2 billion in costs. The costs of wildfires are now in the hundreds of millions to billions of dollars every year.

California has recently experienced significant wildfire devastation and the costs related to wildfires have been ominously discussed and speculated. Understanding the recent CPUC decision is important to navigating possible precedence and in recognizing potential issues that could occur as a result.

While it has been stated that inverse condemnation, where private utilities are held liable for damages by their equipment even if they were not negligent, was irrelevant to last week's vote, the recent discussions surrounding the CPUC decision have raised questions on inverse condemnation as everyone benefits from having electricity provided by utility companies.

WHO: Randy Gimple was actively involved in the San Diego litigation that led to this CPUC proceeding, as well as, the investigation conducted by the CPUC in the immediate aftermath of those fires. Since then, he has continued to follow all aspects of SDG&E's efforts to recover its losses from the San Diego fires through this CPUC proceeding. Randy is no stranger to wildland fire litigation. He has handled litigation in some of the largest fires in U.S. history over the last 20 years, in California, Texas, Washington, Oklahoma, Oregon, Nevada, Montana, and New Mexico to name a few. Additionally, he has consulted on expansive "bush fires" in Australia and has served as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Washington in wildfire cases.

WHEN: To set up an interview and gain additional insights on wildland fire litigation from Randy Gimple, please contact Elise Houren, Singer Associates, Inc., at 415-227-9700 or elise@singersf.com.

Randy Gimple:

Randy W. Gimple is one of the founding partners of Carlson, Calladine & Peterson LLP in San Francisco, California. He represents parties in cases involving catastrophic fires, explosions, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, other natural and human-caused calamities. He is a published author and speaker in matters involving wildland fire litigation, catastrophic loss investigation, multi-party litigation strategies and various other issues related to mass torts. He is a member of the National Fire Protection Association, International Association of Arson Investigators, and California Conference of Arson Investigators. He has also served as an invited Subject Matter Expert for the National Wildland Fire Coordination Group in its development of curricula for teaching principles of wildland fire litigation.

Contact Information: 
Elise Houren
Singer Associates, Inc.
elise@singersf.com  
415.227.9700

SOURCE Randy Gimple

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