The committee for wildfire victims in the bankruptcy of PG&E Corp said in a court filing on Thursday it was prepared to present a $24 billion reorganization plan for the power provider.
The committee, joined by a group of unsecured noteholders, said in the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco that the plan would provide for a “comprehensive settlement” of all claims against PG&E stemming from massive California wildfires in recent years that have been blamed on the company’s equipment and that pushed it to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January.
San Francisco-based PG&E earlier this month filed an outline of a reorganization plan that would pay $17.9 billion for claims stemming from wildfires, including up to $8.4 billion for individual wildfire victims.
When PG&E filed for bankruptcy, it anticipated wildfire liabilities topping $30 billion.
“Our plan of reorganization sets forth a framework to meet PG&E’s legal obligations in full while prioritizing victims and customers,” the company said responding to the committee’s filing.
According to the filing, the committee’s reorganization plan would create a trust to pay wildfire claims that would be funded with $12 billion in cash and $12 billion in shares in a reorganized PG&E.
Investors including bondholders Apollo Capital Management and Elliott Management Corp among others would commit more than $28 billion in new money to PG&E, leaving them with nearly 59% of shares and new debt in the reorganized company, the filing said.
The trust for wildfire claims would control roughly 40% of shares in a reorganized PG&E, the filing added.
Apollo, Elliott and other PG&E bondholders in June proposed a reorganization plan putting up to $31 billion into PG&E, including up to $18 billion to pay pre-bankruptcy wildfire claims.
That plan would have left the bondholders with 85% to 95% of shares in a reorganized PG&E in exchange for a cash contribution of $19 billion to $20 billion. They would also have exchanged unsecured debt for secured debt.
PG&E and several of its large shareholders, including Abrams Capital Management and Anchorage Capital Group among others, opposed the bondholders’ initial plan.
Thursday’s filing also said the committee’s plan – the third proposed overall – would cover payments for so-called subrogation claims by insurers.
PG&E recently unveiled an $11 billion settlement with insurance companies over payments they made to individuals and businesses with coverage for wildfire damage to property. The insurers had initially pegged their claims at $20 billion.



Insurance Groundhogs Warming Up to Market Changes
Chubb CEO Greenberg on Personal Insurance Affordability and Data Centers
Nearly 26.2M Workers Are Expected to Miss Work on Super Bowl Monday
Preparing for an AI Native Future 


