The last time Pacific Gas & Electric declared bankruptcy, in 2001, its customers paid billions of dollars in higher rates while company creditors and shareholders lost little. In that case, PG&E’s losses were largely due to deregulation and marketplace manipulations by Enron and others.
The California utility’s current financial woes are a result of its own negligence. Given the dramatic changes that have occurred in the electricity sector in the last decade, the public should come first this time.