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Top PG&E Executive In Ill-Timed Winery Retreat Out Of Job

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A top Pacific Gas and Electric Co. executive who was among a group of employees who wined and dined top customers just before the utility's mass power outage last week is no longer with the company.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports Mel Christopher, who was until recently the top PG&E gas executive, was gone as of Tuesday.

PG&E public safety power shutoff
A sign calling for PG&E to turn the power back on is seen on the side of the road during a statewide blackout in Calistoga, California, on October, 10, 2019. (Josh Edelson via Getty Images)

Christopher's departure comes days after The Chronicle reported he was among 10 to 12 PG&E gas employees who attended a retreat with as many as 60 major gas customers at a Sonoma County winery just before their colleagues initiated an unprecedented blackout in parts of 34 counties.

The retreat also coincided with the two-year anniversary of the October 2017 North Bay wildfires, most of which the state blamed on PG&E. Those fires caused widespread damage in Sonoma County.

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