The judge presiding over the bankruptcy of PG&E Corp. is worried that another year of wildfires could upend the utility’s efforts to pull out of massive financial and legal trouble, the Wall Street Journal reported. Judge Dennis Montali cited the possibility that blazes this year, with PG&E under chapter 11 protection, could tip the utility into default on the $5.5 billion bankruptcy loan he has been asked to approve. “There’s an elephant in the room here. We all know there could be 2019 wildfires,” Judge Montali said at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco where PG&E and its lenders are seeking approval of the loan. Led by JPMorgan Chase & Co., lenders have offered concessions, but approval of the loan has been held in limbo while wildfire claimants examine the revised financing deal. If an official committee representing people with damages from the fires agrees to drop its objections, the loan will be approved. If the committee rejects the compromise deal, Judge Montali said, he will decide whether to approve the loan over its objection.
