RE: PG&E23 Jun 2019 17:51
Balancing the interests of residents, wildfire victims, labor unions and the company rests largely on the shoulders of Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has been in office for less than a month.
Mr. Newsom has, so far, offered few concrete proposals or ideas for how to reform PG&E and reduce the risk of wildfires.
“My administration will continue working to ensure that Californians have access to safe, reliable and affordable service; that victims and employees are treated fairly; and that California continues to make forward progress on our climate change goals,” Mr. Newsom said in a statement on Tuesday.
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The new governor is under growing pressure from residents and investors to act.
At a hearing before the utilities commission on Monday, residents held signs that read “No PG&E Bailout” and shouted, “Stop this now!”
BlueMountain Capital Management, one of PG&E’s major investors, said the bankruptcy filing was “reckless and irresponsible” and called for replacing the company’s board of directors.
“Today’s filing is the latest example of how the board continues to fail the company, wildfire victims, customers, employees, creditors, shareholders and the people of California,” the firm said in the statement. “We urge all stakeholders to support change at PG&E and will be proposing a new slate of highly qualified and impartial directors.”
Mr. Reicher, the former energy official, said local, state and federal government officials needed to work together to come up with plans to address the problems at PG&E and to prevent wildfires this year.
“This is a real unfortunate civics lesson in a situation like this,” said Mr. Reicher, a research fellow at the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford. “There’s just so much at stake.”