California regulators assessed on Feb. 27 an additional $462 million in fines against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for its role in igniting recent northern California wildfires, with the total penalty against the utility now at nearly $2.14 billion—the largest ever by the state Puvlic Utility Commission. "We're disappointed in today's ... decision which increased fines and penalties for the 2017 and 2018 wildfires in Northern California," says James Noonan, PG&E spokesperson in an email to ENR. He said the San Francisco-based utility "worked diligently over many months with multiple parties," including CPUC's Safety Enforcement Division, the Coalition of California Utility Employee, and the Office of the Safety Advocate to reach a joint $1.675-billion settlement agreement "that addresses multiple needs and would allow for additional investments to further strengthen the company's electric operations." Noonan added, "We recognize our fundamental obligation is to operate our system safely."