SAN FRANCISCO – Pacific Gas & Electric grew out of a controversial bankruptcy saga that began after its long-neglected power grid ignited wildfires in California that killed more than 100 people.
The nation’s largest utility company announced Wednesday that it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and paid $ 5.4 billion in seed funds and 22.19% of its shares in a trust for forest fire victims caused by its team. obsolete.
“This is an important milestone, but our work is far from over,” Bill Smith, PG&E PCG,
Acting CEO, said in a statement. “Our appearance in Chapter 11 marks only the beginning of the next era of PG&E, as a fundamentally improved company and the safe and reliable utility that our customers, communities and California deserve.”
A federal judge last month approved a $ 58 billion plan to get the company out of bankruptcy by June 30, the deadline the company had to meet to qualify for coverage from a forest fire insurance fund. $ 21 billion created by California last year.
The decision of US bankruptcy judge Dennis Montali paved the way for PG&E to pay $ 25.5 billion for the losses caused by devastating fires in 2017 and 2018.
Dozens of lawsuits were settled during the test, with $ 13.5 billion going to more than 80,000 people who lost family, homes, businesses and other property in the fires.
The company plans to find a new CEO to replace Bill Johnson, who stepped down on June 30 after just 14 months on the job. It has revised its board of directors, including 11 recently appointed members. PG&E is also committed to dividing its vast territory into regional units to better respond to the different needs of the 16 million people who depend on it for energy.
Financing the plan requires PG&E to almost double its debt, burdening the company with a burden that critics fear will make it harder to raise the estimated $ 40 billion for improvements that the utility still needs to make to its network. electric.
This is the second time in 16 years that PG&E has navigated a complex bankruptcy case that has raised questions about how it should work in the future. The last time the company emerged from bankruptcy in 2004, electricity rates skyrocketed and management focused even more on increasing profits rather than improving its power supply.
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