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PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (“PG&E”) are Debtors in bankruptcy in federal court. Here are some selected reported developments from the past week.
On March 23, 2020, PG&E announced that it had reached a plea agreement on criminal charges related to the devastating 2018 Camp Fire that took over 80 lives. Under the agreement, PG&E will plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter, and pay fines and take other measures, subject to state and federal court approval.
On March 20, 2020, PG&E announced that it had resolved the Governor’s concerns about the Debtors’ proposed plan of reorganization with certain revisions to the plan, including no shareholder dividends for 3 years and new oversight mechanisms.
On March 20, 2020, PG&E and the PG&E Corporation Foundation announced that PG&E is donating 480,000 N95 masks and 470,000 surgical masks to the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and that the Foundation will contribute $1 million to non-profits focused on supporting individuals and families facing food insecurity, as well as small businesses to help with the uncertainty and economic impacts of the public health emergency.
On March 16, 2020, the Debtors obtained court approval to use up to approximately $23 billion to in financing to help exit bankruptcy, including nearly $11 billion in debt commitments, $9 billion in new equity, and possibly another $3 billion in new shares.
On February 27, 2020, the California Public Utilities Commission proposed a $2.14 billion penalty against PG&E for its role in certain wildfires in 2017 and 2018, which was raised from a prior figure of $1.68 billion. PG&E had 20 days to respond. On March 18, 2020, PG&E filed objections to the proposed increase.