PG&E Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in Fires as It Nears Bankruptcy Exit

PG&E Corp. pleaded guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter for its role in sparking California’s deadliest wildfire, on the same day that a separate judge said that he would clear the way for the company to exit bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The San Francisco-based utility became one of the few U.S. corporations to be convicted of homicide-related charges in a dramatic scene that unfolded yesterday in Superior Court in California’s Butte County, where the 2018 Camp Fire razed the town of Paradise. PG&E Chief Executive Bill Johnson entered the guilty pleas for each of the felony counts of involuntary manslaughter, looking at the images of the 84 victims on a screen as Judge Michael Deems recited the counts in alphabetical order. Johnson, who joined PG&E last year and is set to step down as its CEO this month, also pleaded guilty on its behalf to one count of unlawfully causing a fire. The company, which has agreed to pay the statutory maximum penalty of $3.48 million, is expected to be sentenced later this week. Meanwhile in a separate hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco, Judge Dennis Montali said he intends to approve PG&E’s $59 billion reorganization plan, which involves issuing huge amounts of new debt and equity to help pay liability claims related to wildfires. Formal signing could take a few more days, as remaining issues are resolved and the documents are finalized, the judge said. The proceedings bring PG&E closer to closing a dark chapter in its history, after fires sparked by company equipment killed more than 100 people and burned more than 15,000 homes in Northern California in 2017 and 2018. The company, which provides gas and electric services to 16 million people, or nearly one in 20 Americans, filed for chapter 11 protection in January 2019, citing more than $30 billion in potential fire-related liability claims.