Feds to bill fire victims if utility doesn't pay $4B

https://news.yahoo.com/report-feds-bill-fire-victims-191046510.html


Associated Press•January 12, 2020

Federal officials are prepared to bill wildfire victims for a portion of the nearly $4 billion the government says it's owed by Pacific Gas & Electric Co., if the debt isn't resolved as part of the utility's bankruptcy case, according to a newspaper report Sunday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has asked for reimbursement from PG&E to cover costs from the government’s response to destructive fires in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Under PG&E’s current plan to resolve its bankruptcy, any payment to FEMA would have to come from the $13.5 billion the utility intends to reserve primarily to settle claims from wildfire victims, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

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FEMA’s attempt to recover from PG&E was sharply criticized by 40 members of Congress in a letter to the agency’s acting administrator last week. The letter cited concern at FEMA’s “decision to litigate claims to the settlement fund for wildfire victims established by PG&E.”

FEMA’s efforts also have drawn criticism from James Lee Witt, a former director of the agency, who told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat newspaper last month that it was an “unusual” and “inappropriate” request.

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