Power producers NextEra Inc., Consolidated Edison Inc. and Calpine Corp. on Thursday said that they will appeal to try to overturn a recent decision by a judge that a federal regulator has no say in whether utility PG&E Corp. may reject its power purchase agreements if it chooses to while in bankruptcy, Reuters reported. PG&E’s power purchase agreements are valued at up to $42 billion and the matter of whether the company can walk away from them belongs exclusively in bankruptcy court, Judge Dennis Montali of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco said in a June 7 decision. Judge Montali, who is overseeing PG&E’s bankruptcy, rejected the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s argument that it has “concurrent jurisdiction” over the agreements. The dispute involving the regulator, PG&E and companies from which it buys power has been one the most contentious fights so far in the San Francisco-headquartered utility’s bankruptcy, launched in January. PG&E sought chapter 11 protection expecting billions of dollars in liabilities stemming from devastating California wildfires in recent years traced to its equipment.
