PG&E fined $16.8 million for missed inspections

[Kadie]

PG&E fined $16.8 million for missed inspections
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, January 27, 2012



Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s failure to conduct required gas leak surveys on nearly 14 miles of its distribution system in eastern Contra Costa County - including one Danville neighborhood ignored for two decades - prompted state regulators on Friday to levy $16.8 million in fines against the utility.

Last month, the company discovered more than a dozen gaps in its maps, which meant that entire neighborhoods were never checked for leaks. Federal law requires distribution lines to be inspected once every five years. Emergency checks of the uninspected portions of the system revealed one dangerous leak and 21 other, less-serious leaks.

The California Public Utilities Commission's safety staff, under new rules that call for citing utilities immediately for violations of federal and state gas safety laws, issued $20,000 individual fines for more than 800 separate violations of the federal leak survey requirement. The new, immediate citation powers were created to counter criticism about lax oversight by the commission following the September 2010 San Bruno gas line explosion that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes.

In a staff report documenting the violations, the CPUC described the cause as a "lack of clarity in PG&E's standards coupled with a lack of quality control."



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/27/MNNH1MVQFK.DTL#ixzz1kir8OM9i

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I hope this is a trend of cash strapped cities using fines

to make negligent companies toe the line.

[Neue Regel]

2. The important thing is their CEO received a $35 million severance package after the explosion

Thank God the company had its priorities straight!

http://speier.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=370:pgaes-top-exec-retires&catid=2:jackie-in-the-news&Itemid=15

Facing mounting criticism over the San Bruno gas-line disaster and a series of other controversies, PG&E said Thursday that its top executive will retire at the end of the month, walking away with a severance package valued at nearly $35 million.

Darbee, who became the utility's CEO and president Jan. 1, 2005, and chairman a year later, made the decision to quit without any urging to do so by PG&E's board, according to company spokesman Brian Hertzog.

"Over the past year, our company has faced difficult challenges that have diminished confidence in PG&E among some of our customers, regulators and others," the 58-year-old Darbee said in a statement issued to his employees. "My decision to retire is aimed at helping PG&E turn the page and carry on with the work we are doing to become a safer, stronger company."


Don't you feel better now?