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Pacific Gas & Electric has reached an interim settlement of $ 11 billion to compensate a group of insurance companies for claims paid to tens of thousands of residents and businesses affected by wildfires and forest fires. Fire of 2018.
The amount is less than the $ 20 billion originally claimed by insurers to cover losses, but it was boosted by the $ 8.5 billion offered by PG & E just four days ago.
Some forest fire victims, who have not yet reached a tentative agreement, have heckled the agreement. This group includes exhausted households, businesses and those who make claims for wrongful death against the public service.
These parties appear to be distant from each other in the negotiations, although the deadline for individuals who have lost their homes, businesses or relatives to file a claim and become bankruptcy creditors – October 21 – is approaching. big steps.
PG & E on Monday presented a plan to establish a capped trust at $ 8.4 billion to compensate tens of thousands of people and businesses with losses from 19 different fires.
But this sum was postponed as being largely insufficient according to the judicial files filed on behalf of the victims of forest fires, estimating their losses to 54 billion dollars. Patrick McCallum, a resident of Santa Rosa, who lost his home in the Tubbs fire and who defended the interests of the group "Up from the Ashes" on behalf of the victims of the fires, described the agreement $ 11 billion as an agreement providing hedge funds to insurance companies by repurchasing their debts. at steep discounts.
"PG & E focuses on hedge funds, Wall Street and insurance companies and not on victims," said McCallum.
The proposed deal offers $ 2.5 billion more than PG & E had offered to insurance companies earlier this week, causing other groups to rely on money available for individual victims of fire.
This is the latest agreement between PG & E and its creditors in closed-door negotiations, as the company establishes a road map to opt out of the bankruptcy protection it sought in January, under the growing responsibility for forest fires caused by its power grid. Plans, including a $ 1 billion payment proposal in June to pay local government entities for battle and recovery costs, must be approved by the US Bankruptcy Court.
Friday's plan regulates about 85% of insurance companies that have claims against PG & E, according to a public service announcement announcing the plan. Bill Johnson, president and chief executive officer of the public services, called the agreement "a new step in achieving what is right for the communities, businesses and people affected by the devastating wildfires."
"As we work to resolve the remaining claims of those who have suffered, we are also focused on delivering energy to our customers in a safe and reliable manner, improving our systems and infrastructure, and pursuing California's clean energy goals. We are determined to become the utility that our customers deserve. "
PG & E provides 70,000 km 2 of electricity and gas in Northern California and Central California and employs 24,000 people, including over 700 in Sonoma County.
State fire investigators said that PG & E's power lines and equipment had lit all but three of the catastrophic wildfires that erupted in the last three years.
The 2017 Tubbs fire, which began near Calistoga in northern Napa County, was destroyed in the Mayacamas Mountains, in the Sonoma County and Santa Rosa neighborhoods. He destroyed 5,300 homes and killed 22 people in Sonoma and Napa counties.
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