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LOCKE LORD LLP 

Meagan S. Tom (SBN 273489) 

meagan.tom@lockelord.com 

101 Montgomery Street, Suite 1950 

San Francisco, CA 94104 

Telephone: (415) 318-8810 

Fax: (415) 676-5816 

Bradley C. Knapp (admitted pro hac vice) 

bknapp@lockelord.com 

601 Poydras Street, Suite 2660 

New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 

Telephone: (504) 558-5210 

Fax: (504) 910-6847 

W. Steven Bryant (admitted pro hac vice) 

sbryant@lockelord.com 

600 Congress Street, Suite 2200 

Austin, Texas 78701 

Telephone: (512) 305-4700 

Fax: (512) 305-4800 

Attorneys for Creditor 

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 1245 

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 

In re: 

PG&E CORPORATION and PACIFIC GAS & 

ELECTRIC COMPANY 

Debtors 

_____ Affects PG&E Corporation 

_____ Affects Pacific Gas and Electric Company 

 X Affects both Debtors 

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CASE NO.: 19-30088 

Chapter 11 

(Lead Case) 

(JOINTLY ADMINISTERED) 

INTERNATIONAL 

BROTHERHOOD OF 

ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL 

UNION NO. 1245’S JOINDER TO 

MOTION OF THE AD HOC 

COMMITTEE OF SENIOR 

UNSECURED NOTEHOLDERS TO 

TERMINATE THE DEBTORS’ 

EXCLUSIVE PERIODS PURSUANT 

Case: 19-30088 Doc# 3012 Filed: 07/16/19 Entered: 07/16/19 15:55:14 Page 1 of

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TO SECTION 1121(d)(1) OF THE 

BANKRUPTCY CODE 

Date: July 24, 2019 

Time: 9:30 AM 

Place: Courtroom 17, U.S. Bankruptcy 

Court, 16th Floor, 450 Golden Gate 

Avenue, San Francisco, California 

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 1245 (“IBEW”) files this 

Joinder to the Motion of the Ad Hoc Committee of Senior Unsecured Noteholders to Terminate the 

Debtors’ Exclusive Periods Pursuant to Section 1121(d)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code (“Motion”) 

(Dkt. 2741). IBEW joins in the Motion and adds the following: 

I. Introduction 

The IBEW is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federal of Labor – Congress 

of Industrial Organizations. The IBEW represents approximately 20,000 gas and utility employees, 

including thousands of employees of Pacific Gas & Electric Company (“PG&E”), throughout 

California. IBEW members are responsible for building, maintaining, repairing, and operating 

PG&E’s natural gas and electric transmission and distribution systems and are therefore critical to 

PG&E’s ability to supply gas and electricity to approximately 16 million California residents. 

II. Joinder and Statement 

The IBEW strongly supports the Motion. California’s governor and legislature have just 

enacted extraordinary legislation to support California’s utilities in this new era of perennial wildfire 

risk. These efforts culminated in Assembly Bill 1054, which passed the legislature on July 11, 2019 

and was signed into law by Governor Newsom the following day.1 As an urgency measure,2 the law 

is effective immediately. Among other things, AB 1054 creates new incentives for utilities to 

 

1

 The text of AB 1054 may be accessed at the following link: 

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1054&version=20190AB105495CHP

2

 AB 1054, Sec. 27. 

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improve safety, helps mitigate ongoing wildfire-related risks, and offers improved assurances that 

wildfire victims will receive adequate compensation for their losses. 

Most importantly for purposes of this proceeding, AB 1054 dramatically improves PG&E’s 

future financial viability. The new law creates two new funds. First, it creates a $10.5 billion3

“revolving liquidity fund” that can be used to pay claims resulting from future catastrophic 

wildfires.4 This new fund will be financed by securitizing a future revenue stream exclusively 

funded by customers.5 Second, if, within 15 days of enactment of AB 1054, Southern California 

Edison Company and San Diego Gas & Electric Company so elect, the liquidity fund would be 

replaced by an insurance fund that contains both the $10.5 billion from the continued charge on 

customers and a matching $10.5 billion from all three large investor owned utilities.6 PG&E’s 

contribution share would be 64.2 percent7 of $10.5 billion. As its name implies, the insurance fund 

rather than the utilities would pay claims resulting from future catastrophic wildfires.8 Further, 

future subrogation claims would be generally limited to 40% of the total claim value.9 Moreover, 

while the utility would have to repay the insurance fund if it were found to have violated a new 

prudent manager standard, that repayment would be capped at 20% of its total transmission and 

distribution equity rate base.10 Because the benefits of the new insurance fund are so significant, it is 

widely assumed that Southern California Edison Company and San Diego Gas & Electric Company 

will elect to participate, thus providing PG&E the opportunity to participate once it exits bankruptcy. 

While the financial benefits of the insurance fund are critical to PG&E’s future viability, 

there is a major prerequisite. The law requires that by June 30, 2020, these Bankruptcy Cases “must 

be resolved pursuant to a plan or similar document not subject to a stay,” the Court must determine 

that there is funding to pay pre-petition wildfire claims, and the California Public Utilities 

 

3

 CAL PUB. UTIL. CODE § 3288 (West 2019); CAL. WATER CODE § 80540 (West 2019). All statutory references are to 

California Code as amended by AB 1054. 

4

 CAL. PUB. UTIL. CODE § 3291. 

5

 CAL. WATER CODE § 80524. The revenue stream results from continuing an existing charge on customer bills that 

would otherwise expire. It does not increase rates compared to today. 

6

 CAL. PUB. UTIL. CODE §§ 3292(a), 3292(b)(3), 3280(i). 

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Id. § 3280(n). 

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Id. § 3280(f). 

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Id. § 3280(f). 

10 Id. § 3292(h). 

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Commission must approve the reorganization plan and other matters.11 With less than one year left 

to accomplish all this, time is critical. 

All stakeholders in these Bankruptcy Cases must focus on meeting the statutory deadlines to 

take advantage of this exceptional legislation. The clock on confirmation is now ticking, and PG&E 

has yet to propose a plan. Having a feasible Chapter 11 plan confirmed as soon as possible is in the 

best interests of not only the IBEW’s members, but of past and future victims of catastrophic 

wildfires, the State of California, and all the other stakeholders in these Bankruptcy Cases. For these 

reasons, the IBEW supports the Motion and requests a termination of exclusivity. 

Furthermore, although the Ad Hoc Committee requests termination only with respect to 

itself, the IBEW supports termination of exclusivity in its entirety. With the legislative process 

complete for the foreseeable future, creditors should now be able to evaluate any credible plan that 

can take advantage of AB 1054 and put the Debtors in the best possible position to emerge as a safe, 

viable, and responsible enterprise. To that end, while encouraged by the reorganization term sheet 

proposed by the Ad Hoc Committee,12 this Joinder is not to be construed as an endorsement of that 

particular restructuring proposal, or of any other. The IBEW respectfully withholds any 

endorsement until such time that it has been able to review any forthcoming competing plans. 

For the reasons set forth above and in the Motion, the IBEW joins in the Ad Hoc 

Committee’s request for an order terminating the Debtors’ Exclusive Periods in order to permit 

parties to file and solicit acceptances of a plan of reorganization, but further requests that these 

Exclusive Periods be terminated for all parties rather than just for the Ad Hoc Committee alone. 

 

11 Id. § 3292(b). 

12 The term sheet included with the Ad Hoc Committee’s Motion represents a serious and thoughtful step forward in 

these cases. However, the proposed plan structure will need certain revisions in order to make it compatible with AB 

1054. The IBEW looks forward to working with the Ad Hoc Committee and any other credible plan proponent toward a 

successful resolution of these Bankruptcy Cases. 

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Dated: July 16, 2019 Respectfully submitted, 

LOCKE LORD LLP 

By: /s/ Meagan S. Tom 

Bradley C. Knapp 

W. Steven Bryant 

Meagan S. Tom 

Attorneys for Creditor 

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 1245 

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