PG&E files for 'Chapter 22' bankruptcy: The Cali Collapse is Gaining Speed

Pacific Gas & Electric filed for “Chapter 22” as California’s largest utility was again forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to the state’s social justice regulatory structure.

Facing $300 million a month in unreimbursed power costs under California’s 1996 “deregulation” law that gave the state control of wholesale electric power purchases, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in April 2001 in San Francisco court, listing $9 billion in debt.

The three-year reorganization cost the state between $40 to $45 billion and was directly responsible for the recall of California Democrat Gov. Gray Davis on October 7, 2003.

But following a Monday approval by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) to borrow $10 billion in “debtor in possession” financing, PG&E filed its second federal reorganization in the same San Francisco court and under the same Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Code listing $50 billion in assets and liabilities.

PG&E claimed that court administered reorganization would support “the orderly, fair and expeditious resolution of its liabilities resulting from the 2017 and 2018 wildfires,” while allowing continued “reliable electric and natural gas service to customers.”

Although CPUC Commission Chairman Michael Picker told an angry crowd on Monday that, “Nothing in this decision allows PG&E to increase rates,” everyone at the meeting knows that the goal of the filing is to dump the wildly insolvent utility business on the state’s wildly insolvent balance sheet, or jack up utility rates that are already sky-high.

I don’t see how consumers don’t end up with the bill. Just in this year alone, it’s probably a 40-percent rise in electrical costs. By spring of 2021...comparing against 2018, you probably will be paying double what you paid in 2018. If you were a retirement situation....why would stay in the state?

There are 3 things needed for a fire. Oxygen, fuel and heat/spark. If you don’t handle fuel and/or heat/spark then you get fire because oxygen is (thankfully) not going away. If the state will not let you remove fuel around power lines to reduce risk the government bears a portion of the responsibility for the resultant fire. This is basic logic, which California legislators and regulators have in short supply.

The article over states a bit. They filed for bankruptcy in 2001. We pay increased rates. Currently they are facing suits in the neighborhood of $30-$50 billion, far in excess of their insurances. They have no real choice. Most of the fires are not their fault. Many are the result of trees falling into lines during wind events on low humidity, sometimes single digit humidity days.

They are thwarted every time they try to cut a tree. In my area, they often need an armed officer to protect them while they trim. In Lafayette I was asked to sign a petition to prevent PG&E from cutting and removing trees.

Also, even when the cause is not their fault, they still are sued. when they turn off the power during wind events, they get sued. Basically, they get sued.

There are plenty of idiots who want a government take over of the utility. these people do not realize the state then assumes the liability. The state run utility may not raise rates but the state will raise taxes to pay for the suits. The whole thing of a state run utility is laughable. They cannot maintain the roads. There is no way they can maintain the power grid.

“You might have recently heard or read that Radio Shack filed for “Chapter 22” bankruptcy. This is not an actual chapter of bankruptcy. Rather, it is a euphemism used to refer to a company’s second bankruptcy, playing on the idea that two Chapter 11 filings equal one Chapter 22 filing”

RE: Rather, it is a euphemism used to refer to a company’s second bankruptcy, playing on the idea that two Chapter 11 filings equal one Chapter 22 filing”

Well, in this case, Amtrak might have already filed for Chapter 44 (and still rescued) :)

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