PG&E Corp. heads into a third and final day of court fights today, with concerns a last-minute protest from fire victims could upend plans by the utility to raise $9 billion in fresh capital to get it out of bankruptcy, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Demands for an examiner to probe the voting process are before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali, who must rule on PG&E’s chapter 11 plan. If he grants the request, investors that PG&E is counting on to provide bankruptcy exit financing will be rattled, Stephen Karotkin, lawyer for PG&E, warned yesterday. Judge Montali is expected to wrap up confirmation hearings on PG&E’s $59 billion bankruptcy exit plan today, and rule shortly. The plan is an effort to address damages from years of wildfires linked to its equipment, and PG&E is trying to hit a June 30 deadline to qualify to participate in a new California utility wildfire fund. The call for an examiner comes from a splinter group of victims of the fires that pushed California’s largest utility into chapter 11 protection last year. They say that tens of millions of victims were left out of the polling process on PG&E’s chapter 11 plan, and an examiner needs to conduct an investigation to figure out why.
