In a major development in the PG&E bankruptcy case, and a significant move to help protect our membership, IBEW 1245 has secured a spot on the unsecured creditors committee.
In order to increase creditor participation, section 1102 of the Bankruptcy Code requires that the United States Trustee appoint a committee of unsecured creditors as soon as practicable. As such, a creditors’ committee has broad rights and responsibilities, including devising a reorganization plan for bankrupt companies and/or deciding what, if anything, should be liquidated. The committee must have at least three participants; the one formed as a result of the PG&E bankruptcy has nine. The nine members of the committee are BOKF, N.A, Duetsche Bank National Trust Co, Western Asset Management Co, Next Era Energy Inc, Roebbelen Contracting Inc, Davey Tree Co, G4S Secure Solutions (USA) Inc, IBEW Local 1245 and the Pension Benefit Corporation.
“Unions rarely, if ever, get a spot on the unsecured creditors committee when employers enter bankruptcy,” said IBEW 1245 Business Manager Tom Dalzell. “When we met with legislators and regulators in Sacramento this week, they were all very impressed with the fact that IBEW 1245 has secured a coveted seat on this powerful committee.”
Local 1245 has chosen staff member Doug Girouard as the union’s representative on this committee. Girouard has been working with IBEW 1245 for six years, and his responsibilities include IT operations, systems development, and financial analysis. Accomplishments to better serve the members of 1245 include design and implementation of a web-based pension calculator to facilitate comparison of traditional versus cash balance pension plan options; design and implementation of an electronic document library system and associated content-based search engine; member information system enhancements; and modernization of accounting systems. He also acts as Trustee Chair for the IBEW 1245 Pension Plan.
Doug Girouard
“Doug is one of the exceedingly rare people who can understand not only the mathematical complexities of an economic issue but also the law that governs its implementation,” said Senior Assistant Business Manager Bob Dean. “We are very fortunate to have him on staff and representing us on this committee.”
Before joining the 1245 staff, Girouard worked at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in the Security Systems group. As a shop steward for ten years, he provided representation, legal research, and analysis in complex matters including nuclear plant employee access and missed meals. He also co-authored letters of agreement covering maintenance department working conditions during refueling outages and technical maintenance shift staffing conditions. As a participant in the 2012 contract negotiations, he focused on pension structure and cost/benefit analysis.
During deregulation of the California electric market in the mid-90s, Girouard worked extensively with the PG&E Revenue Requirement department, primarily calculating Customer Billing department cost estimates for tariff applications.
While on a break in PG&E service, he worked for payroll processing company ProBusiness where he was responsible for development and technical operations of electronic transaction processing systems handling over $4 billion in transactions per month. He also held energy metering project manager positions at PG&E Energy Services and Enron Energy Services.
Girouard holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics with a concentration in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is a veteran of the United States Air Force.
“I am humbled and honored to represent IBEW 1245 on the unsecured creditors’ committee,” said Girouard. “My goals for the committee include, in no particular order: advocating for the continued funding of employee pay and benefits; ensuring bankruptcy administrative expenses are necessary and reasonable; diligent analysis of PG&E records; contributing to a plan where PG&E emerges in a sound financial position; contributing to the emergence of PG&E from bankruptcy as quickly as possible; and providing information to the membership.”
“I look forward providing our membership with another voice in the bankruptcy process,” he added.