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TIMOTHY S. LAFFREDI (WI SBN 1055133) 

Assistant United States Trustee

MARTA E. VILLACORTA (NY SBN 4918280)

Trial Attorney

United States Department of Justice

Office of the U.S. Trustee 

450 Golden Gate Avenue, Suite 05-0153

San Francisco, CA 94102

Telephone: (415) 705-3333

Facsimile: (415) 705-3379

Email: marta.villacorta@usdoj.gov

Attorneys for Andrew R. Vara, Acting United States Trustee for Region 31

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

In re:

PG&E CORPORATION,

- and -

Bankruptcy Case

No. 19-30088 (DM)

Chapter 11

(Lead Case)

(Jointly Administered)

Date: May 22, 2019

Time: 9:30 a.m. (Pacific Time)

Place: Hon. Dennis Montali

450 Golden Gate Avenue

16th Floor, Courtroom 17

San Francisco, CA 94102

PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC 

COMPANY,

Debtors.

 Affects PG&E Corporation

 Affects Pacific Gas and Electric Company

 Affects both Debtors

* All papers shall be filed in the lead case, 

No. 19-30088 (DM)

RESPONSE OF THE UNITED STATES TRUSTEE TO THE WILDFIRE 

ASSISTANCE PROGRAM MOTION (ECF No. 1777)

AND RESERVATION OF RIGHTS

Andrew R. Vara, Acting United States Trustee for Region 3 (the “United States 

Trustee”), by and through his undersigned counsel, hereby files this response (“Response”) to the

Debtors’ Motion Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 105(A) and 363(B) and Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2002 and 

6004(H) for an Order (A) Authorizing Debtors to Establish and Fund Program to Assist Wildfire 

 

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Andrew R. Vara, Acting United States Trustee for Region 3, is acting in this appointment for Tracy Hope 

Davis, United States Trustee for Region 17, who has recused herself.

Case: 19-30088 Doc# 2068 Filed: 05/17/19 Entered: 05/17/19 11:57:04 Page 1 of

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Claimants with Alternative Living Expenses and Other Urgent Needs and (B) Granting Related 

Relief (ECF No. 1777) (the “Motion”).2

The United States Trustee recognizes the continuing hardships faced by the Wildfire 

Claimants.3

 The hardship examples provided by the Tort Claimants’ Committee in its Limited 

Joinder, Objection, and Counter Motion to the Motion (ECF No. 2013) are heartrending, and the 

extraordinary and unique facts of this particular case might justify immediate remediation

outside of a confirmed plan.

4

 But truly extraordinary circumstances cannot excuse the 

requirements of disclosure and transparency, which are critical to evaluating all actions by a 

debtor-in-possession. The Motion fails to provide sufficient information to enable the Court and 

parties in interest to assess the proposed payments of $105 million, including: 

(i) how the payments will be funded;

(ii) the approximate number of Wildfire Claimants eligible for relief;

 

2 The United States Trustee requests that the Court take judicial notice of the pleadings and

documents filed in these cases pursuant to Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9017 and Federal

Rule of Evidence 201.

3 All capitalized terms used herein but not otherwise defined shall have the same meanings given to them 

in the Motion.

4 The Motion presents an issue of timing, not priority, of payment to the Wildfire Victims, given the 

Debtors’ apparent solvency. See G. Marcus Cole, Q&A with Sharon Driscoll, Stanford Law’s Marcus 

Cole on PG&E Bankruptcy: No Free Lunches (Mar. 1, 2019), available at 

https://law.stanford.edu/2019/03/01/stanford-laws-marcus-cole-on-the-pge-bankruptcy/ (“... PG&E is not 

insolvent (the company has assets estimated at around $69 billion, and the tort claims are estimated to 

amount to around $35 billion) . . .”); see also ECF No. 897, Summary of Assets and Liabilities for NonIndividuals). 

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(iii) who will be paid (i.e., the Eligibility Criteria) and how much (including how 

payment disputes will be resolved);

(iv) how amounts paid will be credited against recipients’ distributions under a 

confirmed plan on account of their claims;

(v) whether payments will result in discriminatory treatment of other general 

unsecured creditors; and 

(vi) with respect to the Administrator, (1) the selection process and (2) his or her 

rights and responsibilities, qualifications, compensation, and oversight. 

WHEREFORE, the United States Trustee respectfully requests that the Court require the 

additional information suggested herein in considering the Motion, and that the Court grant 

appropriate relief consistent with the needs of the Wildfire Claimants and the requirements of the 

Bankruptcy Code.

Dated: May 17, 2019 Andrew R. Vara

Acting United States Trustee, Region 3

By: Marta E. Villacorta

 Marta E. Villacorta

 Trial Attorney

Case: 19-30088 Doc# 2068 Filed: 05/17/19 Entered: 05/17/19 11:57:04 Page 3 of

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