PGE marks $105 million for fire relief
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and its parent company intend to set aside $105 million to help with living expenses and other immediate needs faced by victims of the Camp Fire and 2017 Northern California wildfires, new court papers show.
The money would be placed into a special fund controlled by a third-party administrator. It is intended to aid wildfire victims who are uninsured, still need help with living costs or have “other urgent needs,” PG&E said in a filing Wednesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California.
PG&E said it will try to reach an agreement with the official committees involved in its bankruptcy case about who should administer the fund. The administrator would determine the
exact criteria for eligibility to receive assistance from the fund, prioritizing help for wildfire victims “who are most in need, including those who are currently without adequate shelter (e.g., living in tents),” PG&E said.
The cost of managing the fund would not exceed $5 million, according to PG&E.
Jason Wells, chief financial officer of the parent company PG&E Corp., said at a creditors’ meeting on Monday that the company wanted to create the fund but did not say when it might be established or exactly how it would work.
PG&E’s motion indicates that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali will consider the proposal at a May 22 hearing. Assistance would be available to victims as soon as possible after the court approves it, according to a company spokeswoman.
PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection in January because of an estimated $30 billion in potential liability from 2017 and 2018 wildfires. The company wants to resolve those claims as quickly as possible as part of its restructuring but recognizes that some wildfire victims are in “immediate need,” spokeswoman Lynsey Paulo said in an email.
“They are our friends, family and neighbors and we feel strongly that the right thing to do is to help them in this time of need,” she said.
Steve Campora, an attorney who represents victims of the 2017 fires and the Camp Fire, called PG&E’s proposed fund a “good start” but questioned whether $105 million would be enough money given the scale of the disasters.
Campora also pointed to the fact that PG&E recently won bankruptcy court approval to pay an estimated $235 million in performance bonuses to 10,000 employees this year.
“I don’t see how anybody can justify paying the fire victims less than the amount that they want to pay their own employees in bonuses,” Campora said.
The fund also likely will not be enough to help 2017 wildfire victims who are still rebuilding but staring down the end of the two years of living assistance provided by their insurance companies, said attorney Gerald Singleton.
“I’m concerned that $105 million — while it is a ton of money — given the scale of the disaster ... that is not going to be sufficient,” Singleton said.
Singleton also represents some victims of a 2015 wildfire blamed on PG&E’s equipment. The company had recently agreed to pay a group of victims from that blaze, the Butte Fire, but did not follow through in light of its bankruptcy protection.
Paulo, the PG&E spokeswoman, said those claims would have to be addressed elsewhere in the bankruptcy proceedings. Singleton said his team is preparing to file a motion to make that happen.