The California Public Utilities Commission's Consumer Protection and Safety Division recommended today that PG&E pay $2.25 billion for negligence leading up to the San Bruno pipeline explosion and fire in September 2010. The blaze killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. The proposed penalty includes a $300 million fine to be paid into the state's general fund. The rest will go to pipeline safety and repairs and precludes tax benefits and credit for improvements already made that the utility would have received under a controversial old proposal by the CPSD.
Today's filing cites "unprecedented and serious violations of PG&E's safety obligations under the law that continued unabated for many years, and which demonstrate PG&E's disinterest in compliance with the law."
The proposal still has to be reviewed by an administrative law judge, who will send a recommendation to the full commission, which must approve it.
State Sen. Jerry Hill, whose district includes San Bruno and who is one of PG&E's most vocal critics, told KQED's Peter Jon Shuler that the proposal is "very encouraging."
"It’s something that is a substantive penalty if the full commission adopts it and if the administrative law judge accepts it. As well, it’s something that is within reason as a penalty that certainly could act as a responsible sanction and punishment for PG&E from a civil standpoint."