3 Counties Form a Creditor Committee Against PG

As PG&E; Corp. detailed more unpaid bills and a new lawsuit filed against it, Riverside and two other California counties on Thursday informed the San Francisco corporation and its beleaguered utility arm that they have formed a creditor committee.

Several such committees, often a prelude to forced bankruptcy, have now formed. But Riverside County Treasurer-Tax Collector Paul McDonnell said the counties’ committee does not plan to push the companies into federal bankruptcy court.

“Our intention is to work with PG&E; absolutely,” said McDonnell, who said the county holds $40 million in commercial paper, a form of short-term corporate IOU, on which PG&E; has defaulted. The two other counties are Santa Cruz, which owns $10 million in PG&E; commercial paper and Siskiyou, which holds $2 million.

“Certainly one way to get more attention from PG&E; is to let them know that we have the number of three creditors in place,” McDonnell said. A company can be forced into bankruptcy by as few as three creditors owed as little as $10,775.

Meanwhile, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said it would fail to pay most of $1.4 billion in electricity bills due today to the California Independent System Operator and some small power generators. The utility said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it would pay only as much as is generated by customer rates--$228 million.

PG&E; also said two complaints were filed by a shareholder Feb. 13 against the parent company and the utility in Superior Court in San Francisco. The complaints seek nearly $3 billion that was used to buy back common stock and pay taxes for the parent company. PG&E; said it believes the lawsuits to be without merit.