California's Wildfire Victims Fear Coming Last in PG&E Payout

A $13.5 billion settlement between victims of some of California’s most catastrophic wildfires and PG&E — the utility blamed for causing them — was supposed to bring some peace and hope to people still reeling from the devastation.

Instead, the deal has sparked confusion, resentment, suspicion and despair as the victims, government agencies and lawyers grapple for their piece of the pie.

More than 81,000 have filed claims related to blazes including the 2017 North Bay fires and 2018’s Camp Fire, setting the stage for a potential scrum as PG&E scrambles to emerge from one of the most complex bankruptcy cases in U.S. history by June 30.

The utility needs to finalize its Chapter 11 exit by that deadline in order to draw from a special fund created by Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers to insulate California’s utility companies from future fire liabilities.

“How is it in any way fair that the actual victims of this fire, or any of the fires, are put at the very, very bottom of the priority list,” Michelle Barker, 54, wrote in a recent letter to the bankruptcy judge overseeing the settlement.

Barker lost her home to the Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in modern California history. The blaze killed 85 people and nearly wiped out the town of Paradise in November 2018. Last May, Cal Fire officially determined that PG&E’s equipment ignited the fire.

Some of the tensions surfaced during a Wednesday hearing focused on whether federal and state agencies are entitled to tap the fund to recoup any of the roughly $4 billion they doled out after the wildfires. Health chain Adventist Health also is seeking at least $1 billion for losses from its heavily damaged hospital in Paradise, and lawyers could try to take up to a third.

Victims also are upset that half the settlement, or $6.75 billion, would be paid in stock from PG&E, the company responsible for ruining their lives.

The stock payment may prove a clever strategy, said San Francisco bankruptcy attorney Michael Sweet, because that could make it more difficult for Gov. Gavin Newsom to follow through on threats of a government-backed takeover if PG&E doesn’t make reforms.

A government takeover would likely cause the company’s stock to drop, further diminishing the value of the victims’ settlement.

“They are turning the victims into human shields,” Sweet said. “You only go into bankruptcy because there isn’t enough to go around for everyone.”

PG&E believes the misgivings about the settlement are being expressed by a vocal minority. In a Wednesday statement, the company reiterated its belief that the deal “brings us one significant step closer to getting victims paid so they can rebuild their lives.”

Still, there is a growing sentiment among victims that they’re getting such a raw deal that they should reject it, even if that means waiting longer to be paid.

“I want you to know that many of us understand what is happening and that we will move heaven and earth to stop it,” Lisa Williams, another survivor of the Camp Fire, vowed in a Feb. 6 letter.

Williams, 59, now lives in Las Vegas and started a wildfire victims group on Facebook opposing the current deal.

Compounding frustration over the plan to pay them in stock, PG&E agreed to an all-cash settlement of $11 billion to reimburse about 110 insurers for losses paid out to policyholders.

“Not only do we have to wait to get paid but we’d have to depend on the company’s recovery,” said Meek, who said he has moved many times since losing his house, and is nowhere close to rebuilding on his property. “If a fire comes again, what will happen to the stock price?”

The last time PG&E emerged from bankruptcy in April 2004, its stock more than doubled while paying out billions of dollars in dividends. PG&E’s stock has sunk as low as $3.55 four months ago, but has since rebounded to $16 to $18 per share, largely on hopes the company will be able to deliver on its projection of record profits as it bounces back from bankruptcy.

Court documents say none of the victims will have to accept PG&E stock if they don’t want it but the process for choosing an alternative hasn’t been spelled out yet.

Sarah Bates, a 67-year-old former nurse who moved to Virginia after losing her Paradise home in 2018, said those affected the most are being “tossed aside.”

“I don’t have a lot of faith that I’m going to see any significant compensation at the end of it all,” Bates said.

KQED’s Lily Jamali and David Marks contributed to this story.