San Bruno demands honesty, transparency from CPUC

February 10, 2014 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

The City of San Bruno is seeking an order from the Superior Court to force the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to comply with the Public Records Act and fulfill four separate public record requests dating back more than 10 months, relating to the ongoing process of determining Pacific Gas and Electric's (PG&E) penalty and fine for the 2010 gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno.

San Bruno. Credit: Robert E. Nylund/Wikimedia Commons

Between May 2013 and January 2014, San Bruno requested 17 categories of documents related to interactions and communications among commissioners, the Safety Enforcement division and PG&E. To date, the CPUC has failed to provide documents that satisfy any of San Bruno's requests and, in some cases, has failed to respond to the requests -- violating the Public Record Act's 10-day requirement.

In the lawsuit, San Bruno City Officials allege that the documents will demonstrate ongoing "cozy relationships" between the CPUC and PG&E that federal investigators determined to be a leading cause of the explosion and fire. San Bruno officials say these records may reveal the problems that federal investigators identified as a cause of PG&E's persistent and troubling inability to maintain accurate gas pipeline records, which keeps the utility at risk for future pipeline failures.

Attorneys for the CPUC are claiming "deliberative process privilege," in which they argue that releasing the contents of the documents could influence the outcome of the proceedings. San Bruno attorneys say this claim allows CPUC senior management to engage in improper contact without any way for it to be made public.

At the center of San Bruno's legal filing is an email correspondence from Executive Director Paul Clanon to the administrative law judges that violated the CPUC's own rules, and demonstrates improper communication and influence between the CPUC's senior management and the judges tasked with determining whether to levy a recommended $2.45 billion penalty and fine against PG&E.

"We are concerned the leadership of the CPUC is in the pocket of the utility company it is supposed to regulate. Our lawsuit calls for full transparency so that the people of San Bruno and the citizens of California can be confident about the integrity of this long penalty process against PG&E," said San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane. "Improper communications, unholy and cozy relationships between CPUC staff and PG&E, and possible backroom deals are all part of the disturbing and ongoing problems contributing to PG&E's failure to maintain a safe system and the CPUC's failure to provide needed regulatory oversight. An open, honest and fully transparent process is the only way that we can ensure the safety of PG&E's gas pipelines…"

CPUC's resistance to full transparency stems from an unwillingness to "further embarrass the PUC by evidencing its continued cozy relationship with PG&E and lax oversight over the public utility company that the PUC is -- by constitutional mandate -- required to regulate," according to the suit.

For more:
- see this filing

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/san-bruno-demands-honesty-transparency-cpuc/2014-02-10