PG&E CLAIMS COURT HAS OKd CHAPTER 11 REORGANIZATION PLAN

PG&E Corp. claims its Chapter 11 reorganization plan has been confirmed by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, bringing the power provider one step closer to emerging from bankruptcy and participate in a state-backed wildfire fund, Kanishka Singh of Reuters reported late on Sunday, June 21, 2020.

The court’s approval follows the confirmation of the plan by power regulator California Public Utilities Commission in May.

“Today’s ruling in the Chapter 11 proceeding concludes the process of approving PG&E’s Plan of Reorganization,” the San Francisco-based utility Chief Executive Officer and President Bill Johnson said in a statement on Saturday. The company said that it expects to emerge from bankruptcy in July and that it is on track to participate in a state-backed wildfire fund, which reduces liability for investor-owned utilities but requires them to spend billions of dollars upgrading equipment.

The utility filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January last year, citing potential liabilities exceeding $30 billion from major wildfires sparked by its equipment in 2017 and 2018. Earlier this week, the company pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from a devastating 2018 wildfire in Northern California touched off by the utility company’s power lines.