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LOS ANGELES – Pacific Gas and Electric, California's largest electricity utility, on Tuesday filed for bankruptcy protection in anticipation of several billion-dollar liability lawsuits for two years of fires of forest.
PG & E Tens of billions of dollars for forest fires triggered by his equipment, said this month that bankruptcy was his "only viable option".
Investors and state officials have attempted to persuade the company's board of directors to alter its plans for the past few days by proposing alternative solutions and ideas. Some of these people were convinced last week by state investigators that PG & E had not caused the Tubbs fire, which had devastated Sonoma County in 2017 and constituted the second fire in the history of California. They hoped that the conclusions would sufficiently reduce the responsibilities of PG & E. To make bankruptcy useless.
Public interest groups, forest fire victims' lawyers and some investors opposed the filing of the bankruptcy of PG & E. They fear that this will lead to higher rates Electricity and greater difficulty for residents to receive compensation for their losses.
"And called for the replacement of the board of directors of the company.
"Today's filing is the latest example of how the board continues to fail for society, forest fire victims, customers, employees, creditors. , shareholders and residents of California, "the asset management company said in the statement. "We urge all stakeholders to support change at PG & E and will propose a new list of highly qualified and unbiased directors."
But early this week, many investors and state officials seemed resigned to filing the complaint by the company. The California Public Utilities Commission held an emergency meeting Monday afternoon to approve the PG & E project to borrow $ 5.5 billion to fund itself over the next two years in bankruptcy .
"Throughout this process, we are fully committed to our forest fire safety efforts, as well as assisting restoration and reconstruction efforts in communities affected by the devastating wildfires. Northern California, "said John R. Simon, Acting Executive Director of PG & E Corporation. "To be clear, we have heard the calls for change and we are determined to take steps throughout this process to build the energy system that our customers want and deserve."
California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates PG & E and other states. investor-owned utilities, is currently reviewing possible changes to the service, including the sale of a portion of the company or its transformation into a government-run enterprise.
Local 1245 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, a union representing 12,000 employees of PG & E, stated
"Splitting the public service into smaller and weaker segments would undoubtedly have a negative impact on the security and stability of the gas and electricity service, it would increase costs and slow progress towards California's ambitious clean energy goals, "said Tom Dalzell, trade director of the union, in a statement.
As part of the complaint process, PG & E asked the court t to allow it to continue to pay employees' salaries and to provide health care and other benefits.
PG & E also seeks to maintain its customer programs, including assistance to low-income customers and the promotion of cleaner or more efficient energy practices. The company says it intends to pay its suppliers in full.
The public service is awaiting judicial decisions on these requests in the coming days.
This is the second bankruptcy of this service in less than 20 years. She filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001 after a botched deregulation of the electricity industry.
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