The judge overseeing Pacific Gas and Electric’s bankruptcy on Saturday rebuffed the utility’s request that he fast-track approval of agreements signed last week between it, fire victims and the government agencies that had once sought to recoup billions of dollars from a fire victims’ trust.

Lawyers for PG&E filed a motion Saturday urging U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali to approve the agreements in a hearing on May 6 with objections due by May 4 — an unusually short timeline for other parties to weigh in.

Montali quickly rejected the request in a rare weekend exchange, saying he’ll stick to his established schedule for reviewing the agreements.

PG&E’s urgency was prompted by the fact that nearly 80,000 fire victims must vote on the utility’s reorganization plan by May 15.

“Because the motion seeks to resolve critical claims allowance, classification and other issues that could otherwise impact confirmation and the recoveries to fire victims under the plan, a prompt hearing on the motion is appropriate,” PG&E’s lead attorney Stephen Karotkin wrote in a declaration filed in support of the motion.

The basic terms of the settlements have been known since March 10, when PG&E and the Federal Emergency Management Agency told Montali they had agreed during mediation to settle for $1 billion of the agency’s original $3.9 billion claim. (See PG&E Resolves Dispute with Fire Victims, FEMA.)

Other federal and state agencies also agreed to accept far less than they claimed to be owed. They, along with FEMA, also agreed to be paid only after all fire victims claims are settled. The agreements were signed April 21, according to the motion PG&E filed over the weekend.

“The governmental fire claims settlements resolve the treatment of approximately $7.5 billion in aggregate of fire claims that have been asserted by the various governmental agencies in these Chapter 11 cases for an allowed $1 billion … to be subordinated and junior in right of payment to all other fire victim claims that may be asserted against the fire victim trust,” Karotkin told the judge. (The $7.5 billion figure is exaggerated because most of the federal and state claims overlap, Montali noted in a prior hearing. The actual figure is closer to $4 billion.)

FEMA and the federal Small Business Administration will share in the $1 billion, though they may ultimately receive less or nothing if fire victims consume most of the $13.5 billion allotted to the trust.

The state agencies, including the governor’s Office of Emergency Services, agreed to relinquish billions of dollars in claims that overlapped with FEMA’s.

In the settlement agreements filed with the court Saturday, PG&E said it will pay $115.3 million to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and $89 million to half a dozen other state agencies that incurred expenses from PG&E sparked wildfires in recent years. The utility will pay the U.S. Department of Justice $117 million for legal expenses.

The total — $321.3 million — will come from interest earned on the fire victims trust over three or four years or from profits from the sale of the PG&E stock that will partly fund the trust, the utility said.

‘Not Warranted’

The court still must approve the settlement agreements, and PG&E’s attorneys made it clear Saturday they were hoping that would happen quickly.

PG&E said it was hoping to reassure fire victims that the money owed to the federal and state governments would not be deducted from the $13.5 billion trust until all the victims’ claims are paid.

The fire victims may be the last obstacles between PG&E and its need to exit bankruptcy by June 30 — the deadline for the utility to participate in a state wildfire insurance fund and to avoid a possible state takeover. It’s also the date CEO Bill Johnson said he will retire. (See related story, PG&E CEO Johnson Says He’ll Step Down.)

The fire victims, creditors and affected parties, about 250,000 in all, must vote on PG&E’s restructuring plan by mid-May.

Some victims have urged a “no” vote, saying the $13.5 billion settlement is half-funded with PG&E stock that could end up being worth less after the utility leaves bankruptcy heavily indebted.

“The proposed settlement with the federal and state agencies, that has been in the works for some time, is a significant milestone,” Montali said in his order rejecting PG&E’s request. “But filing the necessary pleadings on a weekend and asking to shorten time to require objections by May 4, and a hearing two days later, is not warranted. … Given the difficulties all are experiencing with the current [COVID-19] crisis … the court denies the request to shorten time.”

The judge said he’ll consider the settlement agreements at an already-scheduled hearing on May 12.

PG&E filed for bankruptcy in January 2019 after two years of devasting wildfires ignited by its transmission lines. The blazes included the Camp Fire in November 2018, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history.

The company recently agreed to plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in that fire. It is scheduled to be sentenced May 26 in Butte County Superior Court.