(San Francisco, CA) - PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG) issued the following statement responding
to the lawsuit announced today by the California Attorney General:
"This action by the Attorney
General's office is unwarranted, discriminatory and harmful to California.
"These financial transactions
cited by the Attorney General have been thoroughly reviewed and
audited multiple times, with no findings that the transactions were
anything but entirely appropriate and legal. In fact, PG&E Corporation's
holding company structure was developed under the close supervision
of the CPUC and in strict accordance with its rules and regulations.
"Since the holding company
was formed in 1997, the CPUC has twice fully audited PG&E Corporation's
compliance with its rules regulating the relationship between the
holding company and the utility. The CPUC's audits showed that we
complied with these rules. A formal independent CPUC audit of the
company's books last year also found nothing inappropriate or illegal
in the company's transactions with the utility. Hearings before
the state legislature on this subject also arrived at this same
conclusion last year. Another review or these transactions is clearly
unwarranted.
"Since there is no basis
for another review of these same events, the attorney general's
complaint, singling out our company as it did, appears to be more
related to his ongoing efforts to obstruct our utility's plans for
emerging from bankruptcy.
"Californians and the state's
leaders are working hard to re-energize our economy and attract
business and jobs. The Attorney General's office is misdirecting
its resources and attention to an issue that has already been so
thoroughly examined.
"The Corporation will defend
this action in court and expects to prevail on the merits."