Articles by Mark Chediak

Baseball-Size Hail Makes Insuring Solar and Wind Farms Pricier

The Scottsbluff solar farm in western Nebraska was built to withstand most hailstones. But the icy pellets that rained down in late June were bigger than baseballs. The hail — part of a larger pattern of severe storms, heat and …

PG&E: Power Shutoff Protocol May Avert Dixie-Like Fires in California

PG&E Corp. told a judge it has put into place new safety measures that would have resulted in power being cut to a utility line suspected of sparking the second-largest wildfire in California history. The California utility giant said it …

PG&E Judge Wants to Know Why Power Wasn’t Cut on Line Linked to Wildfire

A federal judge wants PG&E Corp. to explain why it didn’t turn off power sooner to a utility line suspected of causing the second-largest wildfire in California history. At a hearing Monday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who oversees PG&E’s …

How Everybody Ends Up Paying for Climate Crisis

Fallout from last month’s deadly deep freeze in Texas has quietly spread to people living hundreds of miles away. Minnesota utilities have warned that monthly heating bills could spike by $400, after the crisis jacked up natural gas prices across …

Monitor: PG&E in California Prioritized Targets Over Reducing Wildfire Risk

PG&E Corp. prioritized meeting inspection targets over meaningful reduction of wildfire risk, according to a monitor overseeing the utility’s program of trimming trees and vegetation that pose a threat of igniting devastating blazes in California. Among the court-appointed compliance monitor’s …

Anbang, Andy Bang, $1 Trillion in Claims. Ritz-Carlton Mystery Gets Its Day in Court.

When a 26-year-old Uber driver walked into a California deeds office two years ago, it was the real-estate equivalent of a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a tsunami half a world away. Hired by an elderly Chinese passenger to …

Hedge Fund Collects $3 Billion in Bet on Wildfire Insurance Claims

Baupost Group, the hedge fund run by Seth Klarman, received more than $3 billion in July from its bet on insurance claims against PG&E Corp. connected to a series of deadly California wildfires, according to people with knowledge of the …

PG&E Finds Fire Insurance Tough to Get and Costly After Bankruptcy, Fires

PG&E Corp. is finding it very costly to buy fire insurance after wildfires triggered by its power lines sent the company into bankruptcy and left it paying $25.5 billion for claims. It’s hoping customers will foot the bill. The San …

California Approves PG&E Bankruptcy Plan With Oversight, Safety Conditions

California regulators approved PG&E Corp.’s $58 billion reorganization plan, bringing the power giant another step closer to exiting the biggest utility bankruptcy in U.S. history. The state’s Public Utilities Commission unanimously voted in favor of PG&E’s proposal after the company …

Why Utilities Are Turning to Bond Market to Pay for Natural Disaster Losses

Fires and floods are sending some of the nation’s largest utilities to the bond market to cover huge, unexpected bills. California’s PG&E Corp., which was forced into bankruptcy a year ago after its equipment sparked the deadliest wildfire in state …