California power company PG&E Corp., which expects to soon file for bankruptcy, said yesterday that it would cost between $75 billion and $150 billion to fully comply with a judge’s order to inspect its power grid and remove or trim trees that could fall into power lines and trigger wildfires, Reuters reported. PG&E in a filing at U.S. District Court in San Francisco said it could not on its own afford the work proposed in a Jan. 9 order by U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who is overseeing conditions of the company’s probation following a 2010 gas pipeline explosion. To pay for the proposed work, PG&E said it would have to pass the bill to ratepayers who get their power from the utility company’s nearly 100,000 miles of overhead lines in northern California. Read more.
In related news, PG&E Corp. shareholder Blue Mountain Capital Management LLC is preparing to launch a proxy fight to oust the embattled California utility owner’s board, arguing that the company is harming investors with its plan to seek bankruptcy protection in the wake of catastrophic wildfires, Reuters reported. The hedge fund, which owns about 11 million PG&E shares, is trying to rally support from other shareholders to replace all 10 board members at this year’s annual meeting expected in May, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters. "We expect to announce the new slate no later than February 21, 2019," the New York-based firm said in a letter today. Read more.
