California, U.S. Seek Billions From PG&E for Fire Fighting Costs

(Bloomberg) -- State and federal agencies have filed dozens of wildfire-related claims against PG&E Corp., making California and Washington two of the biggest creditors in the utility’s bankruptcy case.

The three biggest demands total more than $6 billion to compensate the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The claims, related to the North Bay and Camp fires in 2017 and 2018, were detailed in a court filing Friday by PG&E. They include:

• FEMA claim for public and individual assistance, administrative costs related to Camp fire: $2.55 billion.
• FEMA claim for public and individual assistance, administrative costs related to North Bay fires: $1.23 billion.
• California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services claim for public assistance related to Camp fire: $2.35 billion.
• California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services for public assistance related to the North Bay fires: $346.9 million.

The claims, which were filed last month but not immediately made public, are set to be challenged by PG&E in December at a court hearing, according to a schedule set by the federal judge overseeing the utility’s bankruptcy case.

The case is PG&E Corp. 19-bk-30088, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Northern District of California (San Francisco)

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