CPUC Imposes Record $1.6 Billion Fine On PG&E For San Bruno Pipeline Explosion
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – The California Public Utilities Commission has approved to penalize Pacific Gas & Electric Co. a record $1.6 billion for the deadly 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno.
The commission voted unanimously on Thursday to approve the recommendation by CPUC President Michael Picker, which was $200 million more than a penalty proposal last year by administrative law judges.
The fine is more than ten times larger than the previous largest fine ever imposed by the regulatory commission.
PG&E will pay $850 million in gas transmission pipeline safety infrastructure improvements, $300 million in a fin to the state's General Fund, $400 million in a one-time bill credit spread across PG&E's gas customers and approximately $50 million more towards other remedies to enhance pipeline safety.
"PG&E failed to uphold the public's trust. The CPUC failed to keep vigilant. Lives were lost. Numerous people were injured. Homes were destroyed. We must do everything we can to ensure that nothing like this happens again," said President Picker. "Our decision commits a significant portion of the shareholder-funded penalty – one of the biggest utility sanctions in U.S. history – to making PG&E's gas transmission system as safe as possible for the public, consumers, utility workers, and the environment."
Federal investigators faulted both PG&E and the CPUC in the explosion, which killed eight people and destroyed dozens of homes.