Shares of electricity provider PG&E plunge as wildfires ravage California

Karl Mondon | Digital First Media | The Mercury News | Getty Images 

Firefighters begin a back burn against the Camp Fire on Pentz Road south Paradise, Calif., November 8, 2018. 

Shares of PG&E plunged more than 12 percent on Friday as wildfires continued to rage through California.

The decline put the stock on pace for its worst day since Dec. 21, 2017, when it dropped nearly 13 percent. PG&E is the parent company of Pacific Gas and Electric, which has 16 million customers in California.

PG&E, in the past year, has been blamed for several destructive wildfires in Northern California. Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the so-called Camp fire in Butte County, about 80 miles north of Sacramento.

Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Office of Emergency Services, said at a press briefing Friday that the Butte County blaze has been “an extremely challenging fire and has resulted in significant and catastrophic loss,” especially to the community of Paradise located just outside Chico.

“The magnitude of the destruction is heartbreaking,” said Ghilarducci. “We know there have been injuries and that there have been loss of life. We’re still accounting for that and working with our local authorities.”

California has a history of power lines or faulty equipment sometimes sparking wildfires, and a state fire agency recently pinned the blame on PG&E for at least 16 of last year’s wildfires in Northern California, including some with fatalities.

Thousands of homes in Butte County were received evacuation orders. The current wildfire is blamed for devastating the town of Paradise, NBC News said citing officials.

Friday’s decline wiped out PG&E’s gains for the year. Prior to Friday’s session, the stock was up more than 6.5 percent. The company did not immediately return a call for comment.

— With reporting by Jeff Daniels