PG&E Corp. scored a crucial win Friday, when the judge overseeing its massive bankruptcy allowed it to hold on to sole rights to fashion a chapter 11 exit plan, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali in San Francisco turned down requests from two groups of creditors who have been rounding up billions of dollars in financial commitments to back their versions of a chapter 11 exit proposal for PG&E. Facing an estimated $30 billion in damage claims from wildfires linked to its equipment, California’s largest utility filed for bankruptcy protection in January. This week, PG&E outlined a chapter 11 exit strategy that brings in new money and protects the value of its shares. The company said that it would file that plan by Sept. 9, the first step in a series of bankruptcy court events that are necessary to get it out of chapter 11. Creditors must vote, and PG&E’s plan must survive legal challenges. PG&E argued it needed to hang on to control to head off a bankruptcy court brawl among rival plan proponents, which could delay the proceedings. Judge Montali sided with PG&E, citing the need to speed the bankruptcy case along, to get money to fire victims.
