SAN FRANCISCO — Lots of people want to have a say in the future of Pacific Gas and Electric, but a federal judge has decided that PG&E is still first-in-line to submit a plan and have it considered.
Federal law gives a company filing for bankruptcy the exclusive right to submit a restructuring plan within the first 120 days of a case, and a judge can extend that exclusivity.
That’s what happened in PG&E’s case. Federal judge Dennis Montali, who is overseeing PG&E’s bankruptcy proceedings, extended the utility’s exclusivity to Sept. 26.
Two different groups swooped in this summer and submitted their own plans for plucking the utility out of bankruptcy. Those groups asked the judge to remove PG&E’s exclusivity early and allow their plans to jump ahead of PG&E's.
PG&E has not yet submitted a reorganization plan, but on Monday, Aug.12 the utility filed a notice of intent to submit one by Sept. 9
On Friday, Aug. 16 Judge Montali issued his decision to maintain PG&E’s exclusivity through Sept. 26 — meaning if PG&E submits its plan before then, it will be the first one that he considers. If he doesn’t like it, he can take a look at the plans of the other two groups.
In his decision, Montali said, “more important to the court, the parties, the fire victims, and all other concerned citizens of Northern California, is to find a clear path to reach the goal of compensation for the fire victims who are involuntary creditors of these debtors as well as for the contractual claims of their voluntary creditors.”
Dueling plans ultimately do not help the wildfire victims, Montali said.
“The inescapable fact is that the fire victims and their insurers should not need to wait for the conclusion of expensive, lengthy and uncertain disputes that only indirectly concern them,” he wrote. “They have little or nothing to do with compensating victims of enormous and unimaginable tragedies…(legal battles are) of no benefit to the victims and is antithetical to the court’s and other parties’ repeated stated goal of compensating the victims.”
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