The Office of Ratepayer Advocates is calling Pacific Gas and Electric to task for failing to do the required federal pressure tests as it certified that 1,000 miles of high-pressure gas pipelines are safe. Federal investigators found that the 2010 San Bruno explosion that flattened 38 homes was caused by faulty welds on a part of the pipeline that lacked documentation. The ratepayer watchdog is alleging that PG&E has misrepresented efforts to rectify the problems and that these misrepresentations amount to “masking safety threats” in the system. (San Francisco Chronicle, December 16, 2015, by Jaxon Van Derbeken)
Critics are contending that Governor Jerry Brown failed to support reform of the Public Utilities Commission that did not effectively regulate PG&E in the run-up to the explosion. A state lawmaker says that Brown vetoed bills that would have brought more transparency and accountability to the commission. (KQED News, December 17, 2015, by Marisa Lagos and Lis Pickoff-White)