Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • December 2020
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

PG&E and the First Climate Change Bankruptcy

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:36 
ShareBar

Abstract

In early 2020, the California-based utility PG&E filed a second amended plan of reorganization. PG&E had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the face of more than $30 billion of legal claims brought against it for its alleged role in causing California wildfires. The plan had the support of key creditors and shareholders and a court-appointed committee representing the wildfire victims. However, it faced strong opposition from California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, who was concerned that PG&E’s plan would leave it too highly leveraged, and unable to make necessary investments. Were Newsom’s concerns valid ones? Did the plan as currently envisioned leave the reorganized PG&E with too much debt to meet its obligations to the wildfire victims while still making the necessary investments to update its equipment? And was PG&E prepared for the new reality of climate change?

Keywords

Chapter 11; Utilities; Liabilities; Restructuring; Insolvency And Bankruptcy; Debt Securities; Legal Liability; Climate Change; Utilities Industry; United States

Citation

Gilson, Stuart C., and Sarah L. Abbott. "PG&E and the First Climate Change Bankruptcy." Harvard Business School Case 221-057, December 2020.
  • Educators

About The Author

Stuart C. Gilson

Finance
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • November 2019 (Revised February 2020)
    • Faculty Research

    Constellation Brands' Investment in Canopy Growth: Aiming High

    By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott
    • April 2019 (Revised November 2019)
    • Faculty Research

    Sears: The Demise of an American Icon

    By: Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott
    • October 2018
    • Faculty Research

    BlackRock (B): Acquire MLIM?

    By: Ranjay Gulati, Stuart C. Gilson and Aldo Sesia
More from the Authors
  • Constellation Brands' Investment in Canopy Growth: Aiming High By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott
  • Sears: The Demise of an American Icon By: Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott
  • BlackRock (B): Acquire MLIM? By: Ranjay Gulati, Stuart C. Gilson and Aldo Sesia
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College