SACRAMENTO (KRON) – The governor’s office and PG&E are staying tight-lipped after Governor Newsom rejected the company’s bankruptcy exit plan.
PG&E is back at the negotiating table trying to come up with a solution.
If one isn’t reached soon it could throw a major wrench into PG&E’s deadline to get out of bankruptcy by June 30
That deadline was set by the legislature to give PG&E access to a multi-billion dollar wildfire fund that utilities can pull from when their equipment causes future fires.
In his letter to the utility, Governor Newsom said he wants: changes to its board of directors, strict and clear operational and safety metrics, and enforcement process for more oversight of the reorganized company.
Governor Newsom said none of these were addressed in PG&E’s latest plan.
Among several concerns, the governor noted he was worried PG&E’s reorganization plan relied on expensive, short-term bridge loans which he says doesn’t position the company to be safe, reliable and affordable.
He says PG&E’s plan to get out of bankruptcy is not feasible without access to that wildfire liability fund.
PG&E has until Tuesday to present a different solution and get approval from the governor.
We reached out to PG&E Monday to see how soon or even if PG&E will present something different, we haven’t heard back.