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California utility company PG&E Corp is exploring filing some or all of its business for bankruptcy protection as it faces billions of dollars in liabilities related to fatal wildfires in 2018 and 2017, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The company is considering the move as a contingency, in part because it could soon take a significant financial charge for the fourth quarter of 2018 related to liabilities from the blazes, the sources said.
A bankruptcy filing is not certain, the sources said. The company could receive financial help through legislation that would let it pass on to customers costs associated with fire liabilities, the sources said. But that is just a possibility, they said, so bankruptcy preparations are being made.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 07 2019, @07:45PM
If it wasn't for their gas lines (which they had a spate of blow up here in Sacramento a few years back..) Sacramento County would be SMUD only. And you know what? We like it that way. SMUD has managed to keep electricity prices down compared to the nearby PG&E counties for DECADES.
They may be on the decline now, but given PG&E's questionable maintenance of their gas lines here, I am not sure if anyone really wants them handling their electricity either. Maybe with the current financial circumstances it will be time to politically revisit the requirement to have gas lines plumbed to your house. Eliminating those and moving to solar would make a huge difference for a lot of people in the region, bills-wise.