PG&E Corp was unable to reach a deal with NextEra Energy Inc and other companies with which it has billions of dollars in in power contracts in a jurisdictional dispute over the bankrupt utility’s ability to walk away from or amend those agreements, according to court documents, Reuters reported. The matter will now be decided by the judge overseeing PG&E’s bankruptcy “in the coming weeks,” according to the documents filed in bankruptcy court on Friday. At issue is whether the bankruptcy court or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has jurisdiction over the power purchase contracts, which are worth up to $42 billion. San Francisco-based PG&E wants the matter resolved in bankruptcy court, while NextEra and others want FERC involved. FERC has said it has “concurrent jurisdiction” with the bankruptcy court in such matters. The contracts have emerged as one of the most contentious issues in PG&E’s bankruptcy, which the company launched in January in the face of tens of billions of dollars in potential liability stemming from wildfires in California in recent years that may be traced to its equipment. The question of what will happen to the power contracts is critical for California’s goal to source 60 percent of its power from sources of renewable energy by 2030. Most of the power contracts in question are for solar or wind resources to fulfill the state mandate.
