Pacific Gas & Electric and thousands of California families who lost homes or loved ones in fires caused by the utility’s equipment reached a $13.5 billion settlement in December, seemingly putting off a lengthy and fraught legal battle. The deal would allow the company to resolve its bankruptcy and provide homeowners money to rebuild. But as a crucial deadline for a formal vote on the agreement nears, some victims are pressing the company to make changes, the New York Times reported. A group of victims and their lawyers say that they are worried that they will receive a lot less than $13.5 billion since half of that amount will be paid out in shares in PG&E. The company’s stock price has been whiplashed as the economy has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, some victims said that a leading lawyer who negotiated the deal on behalf of thousands of victims appeared to have a conflict of interest: He has borrowed money from a loan facility funded by two investment firms that purchased claims against PG&E, own stock in the utility, invested in PG&E bonds or helped finance its bankruptcy. Two-thirds of the votes cast by the roughly 70,000 victims, most of whom live in Northern California, by May 15 must be for the deal for it to be approved. If the victims don’t ratify the deal, PG&E might not be able to resolve its bankruptcy by June 30, a deadline state lawmakers set for the company to qualify for a $20 billion wildfire fund that will help pay for future wildfire claims against privately owned utilities.
