Pacific Gas & Electric, the California utility that faces billions of dollars in wildfire damages, hopes to use its bankruptcy to reduce its liabilities and emerge a more stable company.

But the company’s management and board of directors might not have all that much control over the outcome.

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“The judge can say, ‘I don’t have a confirmable plan of reorganization because you have provided nothing to account for the risk of future liability,’” said G. Marcus Cole, a bankruptcy expert and professor at Stanford Law School. “It’s totally within the judge’s discretion to make the determination.”