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San Luis Obispo County seeking to intervene in PG&E bankruptcy

January 15, 2019

San Luis Obispo County plans to pursue legal intervention in PG&E’s expected bankruptcy in order to protect an $85 million settlement agreement with the utility over the closure of the Diablo Canyon power plant. [KCOY]

On Sunday, PG&E, which potentially faces billions of dollars in liabilities over California wildfires, announced it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is unclear how exactly the bankruptcy would impact SLO County.

SB 1090, a bill signed into law last September, approved a settlement in which PG&E agreed to dole out $85 million to local government agencies as compensation for lost tax revenue as a result of the pending closure of Diablo Canyon. The utility planned on shutting down the nuclear power plant in 2024 and 2025.

Amid uncertainty over the pending bankruptcy, there is now concern that PG&E may attempt to shut down Diablo Canyon earlier than the planned dates.

In addition to trying to protect the settlement agreement, by intervening in the bankruptcy process, SLO County would try to prevent an earlier than expected closure of Diablo Canyon, thus preventing layoffs. Additionally, the settlement agreement includes a $350 million PG&E employee retention plan that the county is seeking to preserve.

Central Coast Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, who co-authored SB 1090, said he will do whatever he can during the bankruptcy process to protect PG&E employees and ensure Diablo Canyon remains operational.


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Timeline of Extortion regarding Diablo Canyon


1. Diablo Canyon provides excellent jobs and plenty of loot for the County to spend. This alone has been responsible for the middle/upper middle class jobs in SLO county.


2. But Noookleeur Powwwwerrrrr! It will kill us all, so let’s protest to shut down Diablo Canyon…..


3. But let’s not protest so much that it actually shuts down…oh crap. No more jobs, no more county loot….dang.


4. So, let’s use our friends in Sacramento to customize what is essentially an “exit tax” for businesses. 85 million is chump change. And the Exit Tax is a great precedent to set because it can be applied to other businesses who might want to leave the area too…..


5. And then, just to show ’em who’s boss….let’s sue them for the cost of all the wildfires. Perfect.


6. ……enter PG-E’s bankruptcy.


7. And now the county will lose everything; jobs, loot, reasons to protest, organizations that make money staging protests….it’s all gone!


All government intervention is parasitic and arbitrary. Eventually it will kill the host, and the government’s death will swiftly follow. Social engineering, Central Economic Planning, tax plundering, regulations, carrots and sticks…..all the tools of government will sooner or later kill the host.


The only way to “save” it is to:


8. Force PG-E to stay in business

9. Force people to work there

10. Prevent people from leaving the area.


But this will only preserve the status quo for a few years and then it all crumbles.


This isn’t an exaggeration. Nations who have been down this road recently have all gone belly up. Only people educated in public schools who watch too much TV think it won’t happen here.


16

Good luck SLO County..

PG&E will file a petition with the Federal bankruptcy court detailing its current liabilities and its assets. As part of this process they have to submit a plan for reorganization including a proposal os to how they will repay their creditors. Creditors are always given priority based on the type of debt they hold; banks always go to the head of the line when repayment begins. Creditors generally get a portion of what is owed dependent on the assets and expected future profitability of the company.

Given the regulatory environment in California and the amount of utility infrastructure needing replacement I wouldn’t expect the creditors are going to get much more that 50%.

Promises made to pay $85M to SLO County or to use renewable energy to produce 55% of its electricity are not contracts and are not enforcible in court.

If the ham handed legislature gets involved they will likely make this even worse, unless they want to explore working with PG&E to pursue relicensing Diablo so that their most valuable asset keeps making money into the 2040’s.


16

Not to worry, I’m sure the new grid and will be in place and ready to go when they eliminate Fossil Fuels in 2030.


10

Que the music…you don’t know what you got till it’s gone…


21

This delights me to no end. Here I am preparing to move to Nevada in a few months (got a new job and condo secured and waiting for me), just in time to watch SLO County crumble. I for one hope this place doesn’t get one shiny dime from PG&E, and that the entire economy comes crashing to the ground. All of you self-serving upper-middle income snowflakes that moved here from L.A. get what you deserve. For years you opposed Diablo Canyon, yet reaped the benefits. I’ll be happy to return back here in a few years and offer you $75k for that million dollar home you currently live in. I wondered how the white Progressive elitist bubble of SLO County would finally burst, and the article above seem to be the death warrant. My suggestion is that you all start being nice to the local homeless population, because they’ll be the ones who are going to teach YOU how to survive on the streets in these next few years.


12

So you want the entire area to fail, bankrupting many including conservatives and are enjoying the thought..


You are a self admitted sadist and a textbook example of a toxic social media commenter.


We wont miss you.


-12

This should get interesting and we all know who will pay in the end. A government protected business is going to butt heads with a govern mentally corrupt county. Frankly I anticipate PG&E telling Hill and Ca for that matter to “pound sand” as they say. Perhaps Hill’s BFF gary grossman can foot the bill for the extortion proceedings of PG&E and keep hell’s little green acre’s in the $green$.


7

So in the end, like everything else political, it’s just down to the money. For years and years the majority of SLO and it’s politicians were against the Diablo Nuclear Plant. Then word came out that the Golden Goose that laid the Green ($) Egg was going to quit laying the eggs that everyone liked. Now we have the same people say NO you can’t quit laying the Green Egg. They like the eggs but don’t want to clean the chicken coup. So it will be real interesting to see how this works out. But for sure we all know who the big losers will be. Yes the rate payers will get it again with higher rates from PG&E. The taxpayers will get it for increased taxes because the government entities can’t, will not or know how to tighten their belts. There will be bond increases for the schools. In the end the real impact will be on Joe citizen who will be held financially responsible for the faults of PG&E and the inadequacies of government.


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