PG&E Fire-Relief Bill Dead Amid Bankruptcy Talk, Lawmaker Says

The notice by PG&E Corp. that it may file for bankruptcy has killed the attempt by a California legislator to help it absorb the costs of last year’s wildfires driving the utility to the brink.

Assemblyman Chris Holden, the chair of the assembly’s utilities and energy committee, said Jan. 14 he would no longer pursue a bill that would have let PG&E issue bonds to cover billions of liabilities from Northern California’s Camp Fire, the deadliest in state history.

“Once the utility decided that its fate was going to be handled by the courts and bankruptcy, that took it out ...