Utility Granted Authority to Refund Customer Deposits

San Francisco, CA -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company today received approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California on various motions which allow the utility to fulfill its obligations to customers without disruption.

The court granted the utility the authority to issue refunds of security deposits to residential customers who were required to make such deposits, as those deposits become eligible for refund through the utility's existing deposit refund policy. This will allow the utility to issue refunds totaling approximately $5.3 million to more than 27,000 residential customers whose deposits are eligible for refund, either in the form of a credit or a direct payment by check. The court also authorized the utility to issue future refunds to residential customers as those refunds become eligible through the normal course of business. Based on historical averages, the utility refunds approximately $1.7 million in residential customer deposits per month.

The court also granted the utility the authority to issue refunds of security deposits to non-residential customers, as those deposits become eligible for refund through the utility's existing deposit refund policy. This will allow the utility to issue refunds to non-residential customers whose deposits are eligible for refund, and future refunds as they become eligible through the normal course of business. Based on historical averages, the utility refunds approximately $1.8 million in non-residential customer deposits per month.

The court also granted the utility the authority to issue refunds of mainline extension service deposits to individual residential customers. These deposits are usually required of customers when engineering and construction work is needed to develop bare lots or add new loads to existing service.