As part of its ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, the court approved Pacific Gas and Electric paying $281 million of 6.25% first mortgage refunding bonds that mature Aug. 1. The PG&E Corp. utility will pay the bondholders from its current available cash, which totaled $3.49 billion on May 31, 2003.

There are no other large payouts due by the utility in the near term, a PG&E spokesperson said. The next large bond maturity is in March 2004.

Bondholders will receive the principal and interest as part of the payoff, with those with brokerage accounts having the total paid to their accounts. Certificate holders will receive their payoff from the trustee, The Bank of New York, after they turn over their certificates to the bank.

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