Justice served? Pacific Gas and Electric pays its due

August 17, 2015 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

It's been a long time coming, but Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is finally paying (financially, that is) -- for the role it played in the 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, California.

Credit: Purestock

The $300 million fine was levied by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on April 9 -- a move that PG&E chose to not to appeal.

To fund the payment, which is due to the state's General Fund by Oct. 6, PG&E had to sell off additional stock.

In addition to the $300 million fine to be paid to the state, the CPUC penalty requires that PG&E shareholders refund $400 million to gas customers and pay $850 million for gas system safety improvements. The $400 million refund, which will be based on usage, will be returned to customers in early 2016 per the CPUC's direction.

Further, the company has settled claims amounting to more than $500 million with all of the victims and families of the San Bruno accident, established a $50 million trust for the City of San Bruno for costs related to recovery and contributed $70 million to support the city's and community's recovery efforts.

The utility claims to have learned its lesson -- and says that's more than just talk. According to the utility, real change, based on "concrete actions the company has taken to make safety the cornerstone of its culture," has evolved since 2011.

The utility first implemented change at the top with the hiring of CEO Tony Earley in 2011. Of the move, the utility said, "We restructured our gas operations business and hired the best natural gas experts in the country to run it."

PG&E has since conducted advanced pipeline safety testing, replaced pipe where necessary and installed more than 200 new automated or remotely controlled emergency shut-off valves -- and decommissioned more than 800 miles of remaining cast-iron pipe, replacing it with stronger, more efficient and seismically sound pipe.

A new gas operations control center employs the most advanced technology, from which the utility can monitor the entire system and respond more quickly and effectively to emergencies. The utility is also using new gas leak detection technology that it says is 1,000 times more sensitive than traditional equipment in order to help find and fix leaks before they become a problem -- and claims to be among the fastest in the entire industry to respond.

"We want our customers and their families to know that all of us at PG&E have committed ourselves to a goal of transforming this company into the safest and most reliable energy provider in America. We've made tremendous progress, but we have more to do and we are committed to doing it right," Earley said.

For more:
- see this background article

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/justice-served-pacific-gas-and-electric-pays-its-due/2015-08-17