Ex-PG&E Execs, Board Rout Investors’ Wildfire Prevention Lawsuit

Former PG&E Corp. executives, board members, and underwriters of particular securities offerings defeated investor allegations that they misrepresented the utility company’s safety compliance ahead of historic Northern California wildfires in 2017 and 2018.

The lead plaintiff failed to allege who made plausible compliance misstatements as required to bring securities fraud claims, Judge Edward J. Davila said Tuesday. The complaint sufficiently alleged some assertions about PG&E’s compliance with California and federal regulations were knowingly or recklessly misleading, but not who the “maker” of those statements was.

PG&E Corp.—holding company for public utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co.—and the subsidiary are still ...