CALIFORNIA REGULATORS APPROVE PG&E BANKRUPTCY EXIT PLAN

The California Public Utilities Commission has unanimously approved local utility PG&E’s plan for emerging from the bankruptcy proceedings it entered last year in the face of $30bn in liabilities it incurred when regulators determined electricity equipment sparked several of the state’s destructive wildfires in 2017 and 2018. The PUC’s approval comes a week after the plan received overwhelming backing from 82,000 wildfire victims. The plan now remains subject to the approval of the US bankruptcy court in San Francisco that is overseeing PG&E’s Chapter 11 proceedings. The utility said it is on track to get all approvals by the state’s mandated deadline of June 30. The company will then be able to complete a $23bn financing deal with creditors as well as a $13.5bn compensation agreement with fire victims and an $11bn subrogation deal with re/insurers.