San Bruno city officials are calling on the California Public Utilities Commission to uphold a proposed $1.6 billion fine against Pacific Gas & Electric for the 2010 pipeline blast that killed eight people.
"A historic penalty of this magnitude sends the right message that gross negligence, corruption and profits over safety will no longer be tolerated," San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane said at a press conference Tuesday outside the commission's headquarters in San Francisco.
The bigger fine, proposed by commission President Michael Picker, is $200 million more than what administrative law judges ruled the utility pay last year, which PG&E is appealing. The five-member commission is scheduled to decide the penalty, which would be the largest for safety violations in the commission's history, at its April 9 meeting.
While San Bruno city officials support the larger fine, they oppose routing $300 million of it to the state's general fund. Under Picker's proposal, $850 million in shareholder funds would go toward improving safety on PG&E's pipelines, the utility's customers would get a rebate totaling $400 million, and there would be other remedies totaling $50 million. All told, the fines against the state's largest utility would total $2.2 billion, including $600 million already imposed.
"We don't feel that any amount going to the state general fund is going to improve pipeline safety at all," said Ruane. "We really think it's of dire importance to have an independent monitor."