Abstract:In California, wildfires caused by electrical infrastructure have left the state’s investor-owned power utilities with major and growing liabilities. But even in such an incendiary environment, the financial industry has demonstrated that it can profit from disaster. This paper uses the 2019-2020 bankruptcy of Pacific Gas & Electric to explain how. In it, I show how “risk” in California’s electricity industry is legally constituted, mediated, and allocated. First, I explain how financial perceptions of wil… Show more
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