Welcome to Dorsey’s Energy Law: Month in Review. We provide this update to our clients to identify significant developments in the previous month. ...more
Although in the Ninth Circuit the decision to revisit an order under FRCP 60 is “highly discretionary,” judges still must explicitly grapple with the relevant factors. That was the clear message sent by Judge Haywood Gilliam...more
Two recent decisions from circuit courts of appeal – the Fifth and Ninth – have addressed a question that does not arise often: in a solvent-debtor chapter 11 case, is the debtor required to pay post-petition interest...more
On August 29, 2022, in the PG&E bankruptcy matter, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became the first circuit-level court to address the question of what is the correct rate of interest to be applied to unimpaired...more
The common law solvent debtor exception, in short, means that a solvent debtor must generally pay post-petition interest accruing during bankruptcy at the contractual or state law rates before collecting surplus value from...more
It begins with an awkward mouthful. Outside a bankruptcy brief, is “unimpairment” even a word? (No, per Merriam-Webster.) Inside Chapter 11, it’s much more: a trend. ...more
On June 22, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") issued an order concluding that FERC and the U.S. bankruptcy courts have concurrent jurisdiction to review and address the disposition of natural gas...more
The California power giant, PG&E, has emerged from the country’s largest utility bankruptcy proceeding as a dramatically different company. Not only has PG&E exited Chapter 11, it has completed a restructuring that will have...more
Optimism over promising results for a coronavirus vaccine from Moderna helped drive stocks up on Monday after a rough go of it last week....more
As Americans [way-too] slowly come to the realization that COVID-19 is a very real and very present threat, the business world is changing around them at a staggering pace. Stocks nosedived again on Monday, with the three...more
There has been considerable progress towards resolution in two of the largest bankruptcy cases pending in the United States: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the California utility, Pacific Gas & Electric. Several...more
On February 3, 2020, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Bill 917 (“SB 917”), which would establish a new process for a potential government takeover of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (“PG&E”)....more
Amazon closed out the trading day yesterday as an official member of the $1 trillion club for the first time. Because Jeff really needed a win, folks. The company joins Microsoft, Alphabet, and Apple in that rarified...more
Our Financial Restructuring & Reorganization Group analyzes a federal bankruptcy court ruling that sides with PG&E over noteholders in a dispute worth more than $500 million in potential interest payments. ...more
In a decision entered just before the end of the year in the PG&E bankruptcy cases, Judge Montali issued an opinion (the “Opinion”) finding that unsecured creditors in a solvent bankruptcy case are entitled under the...more
On November 27, 2019, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali issued a Memorandum Decision on Inverse Condemnation (“Memorandum Decision”) in PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas & Electric’s (together, “PG&E”) Chapter 11 Bankruptcy...more
Pacific Gas and Electric provided its customers in northern California with a glimpse of the future last week. Due to extremely dry conditions coupled with the prospect of strong winds, and cognizant of last year’s massive...more
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali recently ruled in the Chapter 11 case of Pacific Gas & Electric (“PG&E”) that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) has no jurisdiction to interfere with the ability of a...more
In This Issue: Washington District Court Overturns Approval of Third-Party Releases in a Settlement Agreement and Related Free-and-Clear Sale - In In re Fraser’s Boiler Serv., Inc., 2019 WL 1099713 (D. Wash. Mar. 18,...more
The recent chapter 11 filings by PG&E Corp. and its Pacific Gas & Electric Co. utility subsidiary (collectively, "PG&E") and FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. have reignited the debate over the power of a U.S. bankruptcy court to...more
In a much-awaited and pivotal decision in the PG&E chapter 11 proceeding, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California held that it not only has exclusive jurisdiction over the rejection of wholesale...more
Over the Horizon: The rise and fall of nuclear new build in the United Kingdom - September 2016 was supposed to herald the dawn of a new era for the nuclear power industry in the United Kingdom. The UK Government had...more
California’s trouble-plagued Pacific Gas & Electric utility has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, listing debts of more than $51.7 billion....more
On January 14, 2019, facing “billions of dollars in liability claims from two years of deadly wildfires,” PG&E Corporation and its regulated utility subsidiary, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, reported that they expect to...more
More than 800,000 government employees missed their first paycheck last Friday because of the continuing government shutdown. But the pain extends well beyond those workers and has put loads of government contractors in a...more