![\"\"](\"http:\/\/themillenniumreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lead_720_405.jpg\")
<\/a>A pole supporting electric wires goes up in flames in a California wildfire.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
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<\/a>Power Poles Burn in Central California<\/p><\/div>\n
PG&E Reportedly Planning Bankruptcy Announcement To Workers As Soon As Monday<\/h2>\n
ZeroHedge.com<\/p>\n
18 years after becoming one of America’s largest bankruptcies,<\/a>\u00a0the writing is on the wall for California’s utility giant\u00a0<\/strong>after its\u00a0cash-collateral-call triggering second downgrade to junk\u00a0<\/a>has led to reports that\u00a0PG&E may notify employees as soon as Monday that it\u2019s preparing a potential bankruptcy filing<\/strong>, according to people familiar with the situation.<\/p>\n California passed legislation last year in the aftermath of the deadly Wine Country fires\u00a0requiring utilities to post public notices for employees at least 15 days before a change of control, including a bankruptcy filing.<\/strong><\/p>\n This potential bankruptcy announcement\u00a0comes after PG&E’s AIG moment hit late on Thursday,<\/strong>\u00a0when Moody\u2019s did precisely what S&P did two days earlier, and cut the utility’s credit rating to junk citing the electric company\u2019s potential wildfire liabilities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see a much more challenging environment for PG&E,\u201d Moody\u2019s analyst\u00a0Jeff Cassella\u00a0said in a\u00a0statement.\u00a0\u201cThe company is increasingly reliant on extraordinary intervention by legislators and regulators<\/strong>, which may not occur soon enough or be of sufficient magnitude to address these adverse developments.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As Bloomberg reports, a notice may signal that the company has\u00a0accelerated plans to make a Chapter 11\u00a0filing\u00a0as way of dealing with crippling liabilities from wildfires\u00a0<\/strong>that tore through California in 2017 and 2018, killing over 100 people and destroying hundreds of thousands of acres.<\/p>\n And,\u00a0as we detailed previously,<\/a>\u00a0with two junk ratings,\u00a0PG&E will now be required to use cash as collateral to guarantee power contracts, according to the company\u2019s latest quarterly filing, which estimates the utility will have to fully collateralize as much as $800 million of positions.<\/strong><\/p>\n That… is a problem because\u00a0PG&E had only $430 million of cash on its books in September<\/strong>, precipitating what now appears to be an imminent liquidity crisis, one which as a result of some $30 billion in wildfire legal liabilities will quickly escalate into a solvency inferno, to use a term closely associated with California utility companies.<\/p>\n PG&E declined to provide a statement,<\/strong>\u00a0saying the company doesn\u2019t comment on rumor or speculation.<\/p>\n During its 2001, bankruptcy, California governor Gray Davis used the state’s treasury to bail out the utility,<\/strong>\u00a0provoking a controversy that eventually contributed to his ouster. PG&E emerged from bankruptcy in April 2004 after returning $10.2 billion to creditors.<\/p>\n Newly appointed California Governor\u00a0Gavin\u00a0Newsom\u00a0said during a press conference Thursday that his office would be making an announcement related to PG&E within the next few days and that the issue was at the top of his agenda.<\/strong>\u00a0He said in a later interview that the announcement would involve appointments to the\u00a0California Public Utilities Commission, the state\u2019s grid operator and to a commission established by legislature to explore wildfire issues.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n