SAN FRANCISCO – Fourteen Northern California local governments, including the City of Paradise and Butte Counties, have partnered with Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. Settlements of up to $ 1 billion for damage from fires caused by utility equipment agreed.

The mediator-negotiated proposal includes $ 270 million for the City of Paradise, $ 252 million for Butte County, and $ 47.5 million for the Paradise Recreation and Parks District.

The court overseeing the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of PG&E must approve the settlements under a reorganization plan that the utility is expected to file with the bankruptcy court.

Retired Judge Jay Gandhi, who acted as mediator, made the proposal after leading several days of face-to-face meetings in San Francisco with 14 public institutions on various claims from the 2015 Butte Fire, 2017 North Bay Fires, and 2018 Camp Fire .

Other public entities that consent to payments include Yuba County, which will receive $ 12.5 million, and Calaveras County Water District, which will receive $ 3 million. Nine other counties and cities will receive a total of 415 million US dollars and will have to allocate this themselves.

The settlement does not affect the claims of private individuals or entrepreneurs.

“The city of Paradise is being rebuilt, and this is an important step in our recovery,” said Paradise Mayor Jody Jones. “On behalf of the city, we hope to receive the money as soon as possible so that we can use it to rebuild our infrastructure and provide the services necessary for the resilience of the community.”

The money is expected to go to the city’s general fund as the city has lost most of its revenue and won’t get it back anytime soon.

Cal Fire concluded in May that the PG&E power line had started the campfire. The fire killed at least 85 people, burned more than 150,000 acres, destroyed over 18,000 buildings and caused approximately $ 16 billion in damage.

The town of Paradise was represented by Town Attorney Dwight Moore and Baron & Budd’s outside legal counsel Scott Summy and John Fiske. Baron & Budd first filed a lawsuit on behalf of Paradise against PG&E in Butte County Superior Court on Jan. 24. The lawsuit alleged that PG&E was aware of the risk of forest fires associated with its high-voltage power lines and that the utility had planned to – power those lines as a precaution against a fire in high winds, but canceled those plans. The city sought compensation for the loss of infrastructure, land, property, trees, public and natural resources, and other damage by taxpayers.

In a separate ruling late last month, the judge overseeing PG & E’s bankruptcy approved the company’s proposal to set up a $ 105 million housing fund for survivors of the 2017 and 2018 California wildfires, attributable to the utility’s equipment was. Last week the court also approved Cathy Yanni, a mediation specialist, to manage the fund.