The judge overseeing PG&E Corp.’s bankruptcy has rejected efforts to slow down voting on a proposed $13.5 billion settlement for wildfire victims as negotiations over certain terms continue, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco said that he won’t order the dissemination of a supplemental disclosure that urges wildfire victims to withhold votes until at least the end of the month on PG&E’s chapter 11 exit proposal. The ruling marks a setback for an official committee of wildfire victims that has been trying to stop the exit proposal from accumulating support among the roughly 70,000 individuals and businesses who filed claims against PG&E over wildfires linked to its equipment. If fewer than two-thirds of those creditors vote to back the proposal, it would create a serious hurdle for the company in its bid to exit chapter 11 by a state-imposed June 30 deadline. PG&E would have to either reopen negotiations with wildfire victims or ask Judge Montali to approve the proposal without their support, which he has signaled that he is unlikely to do.
