Judge to OK $58B plan to end PG&E bankruptcy after wildfires
Source: AP
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (AP) A federal judge on Friday said he was approving a $58 billion plan by the nations largest utility to end a contentious bankruptcy saga that began after Pacific Gas & Electrics outdated equipment ignited wildfires in California that killed more than 100 people, wiped out entire towns and led the company to confess to crimes driven by its greed and neglect.
The decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali clears the way for PG&E to pay $25.5 billion for losses from devastating fires in 2017 and 2018. The judge said he will sign the formal order confirming PG&Es plan late Friday or Saturday after the companys lawyers make a few minor revisions worked out during a two-hour hearing.
This has been a comprehensive and complex challenge for everyone, Montali said as he thanked everyone involved in the 17-month bankruptcy case.
Dozens of lawsuits were settled during the ordeal, with $13.5 billion earmarked for more than 80,000 people who lost family, homes, businesses and other property in the fires.
FILE - In this Dec. 16, 2019, file photo, a sign to a Pacific Gas & Electric building is shown in San Francisco. A federal judge is expected opn Friday, June 19, 2020, to approve Pacific Gas & Electric's $58 billion plan for ending its 17-month stint in bankruptcy, clearing the way for the nation's largest utility to begin paying $25.5 billion to cover the losses in a series of horrific wildfires ignited by its long-neglected electrical grid. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
Read more: https://apnews.com/af0ec776efd4b3049f7800ff981bff88
NotHardly
(1,062 posts)$168,000 to each of the 80,000 for lost family, homes, businesses and other property ... well, at least that is more than Dupont gave the folks in Bangladesh or the money the military gives for killing civilians on foreign land, but not by much.
Seems like the courts love them some citizens too.
sandensea
(21,529 posts)This reminds me of the Agent Orange ruling against Dow Chemical - in which they were ordered to pay all vets listed as affected a monthly stipend for the rest of their lives (around $2,000 or so - the amount varying according to the extent of contamination, as a % of skin surface).
Dow paid out the first month's checks - and then had a court somewhere issue an injunction against the rest of it.
That was 20 years ago.
There are many other, similar examples of this liability payout two-step.
cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)start being made to pay and not by a fine or a slap on the wrist few months in a club like jail.
Eugene
(61,595 posts)PG&E becomes a corporate felon, but there is no mention of prosecuting the company's officers.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142516036
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/business/energy-environment/pge-camp-fire-california-wildfires.html
cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)DENVERPOPS
(8,679 posts)there are countries out there that sentence the top execs to life imprisonment or even death for defrauding the public, stock holders, or government........