Published
4 years agoon
SAN FRANCISCO — PG&E Corp. CEO Bill Johnson blamed negligence by the company’s past management for a cascade of catastrophes that killed nearly 140 people as he tried to persuade California regulators Tuesday that he is steering the utility to make safety its top priority.
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Among other things, both Newsom and CPUC President Marybel Batjer have publicly demanded that PG&E replace its entire 14-member board, including Johnson, before it emerges from bankruptcy.
PG&E has promised to reshuffle its board, but hasn’t made any commitment to part ways with Johnson, who previously ran another major utility, the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The demands for a management shakeup are being made as PG&E scrambles to to meet a June 30 deadline to win approval of its plan to get out of bankruptcy. Facing more than in $50 billion in claimed losses from a series of deadly wildfires ignited by its outdated electrical equipment, the nation’s largest utility filed the case 13 months ago.
PG&E provides power to 16 million people — larger than the populations of all but a handful of states.
PG&E has agreed to settle claims with wildfire victims, insurers and a few government agencies for $25.5 billion to put it on track to win a federal judge’s approval of its bankruptcy blueprint. But the CPUC also must sign off on the plan to qualify for coverage from a state-created wildfire insurance fund.
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