California’s strict wildfire liability rule hangs over bankrupt PG&E - SFChronicle.com

California’s strict wildfire liability rule hangs over bankrupt PG&E - SFChronicle.com: While bankruptcy will help Pacific Gas and Electric Co. address its immediate financial challenges, it may do little to alleviate longer-term headwinds posed by California’s relentlessly devastating wildfires and the strict liability the state imposes on utilities whose power lines cause them. Thanks to a once-obscure legal doctrine known as inverse condemnation, PG&E can be held liable for damage caused by its equipment, even if the company wasn’t negligent. Rooted in the U.S.