PG&E files revamped plan to exit bankruptcy, create ‘re-imagined’

PG&E’s stock rocketed higher on Monday after the embattled utility unveiled a plan to extricate itself from a bankruptcy quagmire that surfaced amid the company’s mountain of debts and liabilities linked to a series of catastrophic wildfires.

Shares of the utility soared on waves of optimism by big players on Wall Street that PG&E was close to an exit from its $51.69 billion bankruptcy, along with PG&E’s own assessment that it could conclude its court case to reorganize its finances by a June 30 deadline imposed by the state government.

PG&E jumped 13.5 percent, or $2.05 a share, to finish at $17.26 on Monday. The company’s shares continued to surge in afterhours trades.

“The company will emerge from Chapter 11 as a reimagined utility with an enhanced safety structure, improved operations, and a board and management team focused on providing the safe, reliable, and clean energy our customers expect and deserve,” PG&E Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson said in a prepared release.

PG&E’s latest proposal awaits approval from Gov. Gavin Newsom, however.

Newsom has harshly criticized PG&E in multiple instances. As recently as Jan. 22, the governor pilloried a new bankruptcy plan that the utility had proposed at the time.

The latest plan quickly came under fire from a long-time PG&E skeptic, state Sen. Jerry Hill, whose district in parts of Santa Clara County and San Mateo County includes San Bruno, the scene of a 2010 fatal natural gas blast that PG&E caused.

A disastrous combination of PG&E’s flawed gassystem records and shoddy maintenance, as well as lazy supervision by the state Public Utilities Commission, caused an explosion that killed eight and destroyed a quiet residential neighborhood in September 2010.