By Andrew Christie, Chapter Director
Today’s decision by the Public Utilities Commission to hit PG&E with a $1.6 billion penalty for the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion – after CPUC President David Picker upped the recommended level of the fine by $200 million -- means shareholders are on the hook for more than $2 billion, the largest fine ever levied against a utility by the state of California, wiping out all of PG&E’s 2014 profits. A federal case against PG&E is still pending.
The record fine should go nicely on the utility’s mantelpiece next to the $14.4 million consent decree it signed in 1997 -- one of the largest environmental settlements since the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster -- after it was found to have been tampering with data and withholding evidence of the full impact on the marine environment by the Diablo Canyon plant’s cooling water intake and discharge.
On KQED’s April 9 evening news, Picker mused that PG&E may be too big and diversified to do a proper job for the public. The Wall Street Journal reported: “The commission did say it would open a new case against PG&E to study its safety culture, based on conclusions that it isn't really learning from its mistakes and that fines aren't enough to prevent future explosions or fatalities.”
We agree, and point out that any study of PG&E’s safety culture must include a review of the latest Diablo Canyon seismic studies, recently unveiled with great fanfare and performed with a heavy thumb on the scales to keep the estimated level of hazard low and preserve the claim of the plant’s ability to withstand a major quake. The Independent Peer Review Panel, assiduously avoided by the utility in the course of preparing the report for submission to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has pointed out that PG&E's research and conclusions are on shaky ground.
More to come in the May Santa Lucian.