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U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali issued an order Saturday confirming PG&E’s Chapter 11 plan that will cover billions of dollars in damage claims stemming from catastrophic wildfires linked to the company’s equipment. The judge said in an earlier written decision that he planned to approve the turnaround proposal because the alternative would leave tens of thousands of fire survivors with “no other options on the horizon.”
PG&E needed the judge to sign off on its plan before the end of this month to qualify for a state wildfire insurance fund. That will help it cover damage claims from any future blazes sparked by its power lines.
Read More: PG&E Is Set to Exit Bankruptcy, Ending Saga Sparked by Fires
“PG&E is committed to emerging from Chapter 11 as a fundamentally improved and transformed utility that meets the highest safety, governance, and operational standards,” Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson said Saturday in a statement.
The company said it expects to emerge from bankruptcy in July.
PG&E filed for bankruptcy in January 2019 after its equipment was implicated in wildfires that killed more than 100 people and burned tens of thousands of homes across Northern California. It was the largest utility reorganization in U.S. history. The company is emerging from Chapter 11 saddled with nearly $40 billion in debt after it agreed to settle claims from people, insurers and local government agencies for $25.5 billion.
PG&E retired expensive high-coupon debt and replaced it with lower cost debt as a result of the Chapter 11 proceedings, yielding savings for customers, according to a statement.
With the judge’s confirmation in hand, PG&E can begin marketing $5.25 billion in shares as part of a plan to raise $9 billion through new equity to help pay for the fire-related costs. It is also raising more than $13 billion in the debt markets.
Some wildfire victims denounced PG&E’s turnaround proposal, saying hedge funds and other investors stood to make billions from bets on the distressed utility while individual victims will have to take half of their $13.5 billion settlement in shares in the reorganized company.
PG&E said it will implement all wildfire settlements it reached during its bankruptcy after it emerges, including the immediate funding of the victim trust.
(Updates with PG&E statement on debt replacement)
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