State Senate Committee Probes California Public Utilities Commission Over Safety

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — A state senate subcommittee will probe the California Public Utilities Commission on Monday in San Francisco about it's perceived lack of safety enforcement in the years since the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion.

Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, told KCBS that the CPUC has continuously failed in regulating the utilities—specifically PG&E.

"What we are trying to do is focus on the errors and the areas that they have not been able to change directions and really accomplish a safe regulatory environment," he said.

Hill, whose district includes San Bruno—where eight people died in a 2010 gas line explosion, said representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration will be among the experts to testify.

"The FAA is the model that we can hold up as a great example of how to change a culture," he said.

Hill, who also chairs the senate subcommittee on gas and electric infrastructure safety, said - among other issues - the CPUC has been slow with its investigations into several electrocutions.

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