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Pacific Gas & Electric has announced it is replacing three-quarters of the company’s board of directors as part of the utility’s bankruptcy proceedings.
The announcement about changes to the board was made last Friday.
The decision will leave just three of PG&E's 14 current board members in place if the San Francisco company is able to win bankruptcy court approval of its plan. The plan includes $25.5 billion to cover losses from 2017 and 2018 wildfires that devastated parts of its sprawling service territory.
Attorney Roy Miller, whose firm represents some of the victims that are part of a settlement agreement with PG&E, told KCBS Radio such changes to the board were expected.
"They want to bring on board more people that are more California-based and the governor also wants people who are more safety-focused so we don’t go through this cycle basically every year," Miller said.
The company hopes to come out of bankruptcy by the end of June.
"Our group is voting about a little over 98% in favor of the settlement and about three quarters, maybe a little bit more, of our group’s vote is already in," Miller said.
Two thirds of the tens of thousands of wildfire victims must approve the settlement agreement by May 15th for it to be ratified. If that doesn’t happen, Miller said the financing that underpins company’s entire bankruptcy settlement would be in jeopardy.
The board departures include CEO Bill Johnson.