Posted on 09/15/2010 4:52:18 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
State regulators in 2007 gave Pacific Gas and Electric Co. the go-ahead to spend $5 million of ratepayer money to replace a 62-year-old section of the same pipeline that exploded last week in San Bruno. But the work never got done as scheduled in 2009, and this year the utility asked for another $5 million to do the same job by 2013, according to documents submitted by PG&E to the California Public Utility Commission as part of a general rate-hike request.
While the cause of the pipeline explosion has yet to be determined, experts say that in general older lines are more prone to problems.
Theres no excuse for deferring maintenance of potentially compromised pipelines that run under customers homes, businesses and schools, said Mark Toney, executive director of the Utility Reform Network. The San Francisco ratepayers group, known as TURN, monitors electric and gas company regulatory activity.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
Oops.
Now they want PG&E rate payers to pay the tab for their negligence.
Maybe the management needs their “smart” meters recalibrated.
one way or another Pump & Gouge ‘Em makes ya pay..
I imagine they didn’t want to pay to have an “environmental impact study” done or some other goofy, liberal crap like that. We’re getting to the point in this country where you’re going to need an “environmental impact study” done before you can change a light bulb. FN liberals.
That rotten egg odor is the smell of a gigantic lawsuit.
So if they were supposed to reapir the pipe in 2009 why didn’t the regulatory agency which ok’d the 5 mollion of rate payor money make sure the work was performed. What the heck
is the reasoning of having all these stupid watchdog groups
and agencys if they dont really enforce. And furthermore Why the hell isnt PGE maintaining the pipes I live about 20 miles from San Bruno and am a PG&E customer and every month they send my bill and a little pamplet telling me if I cant pay my bill they can give me discount I wish they would have woried about the pipes instead of advertising get stuff for freee on the backs of the other rate payors.
Instead of spending the $5 million of ratepayer money on the pipeline fix, they spent $46 million pimping Proposition 16...which fortunately lost!
And you wonder why PG&E has one of the worst reputations in the USA among public utilities, period. And that bad reputation was why we ended up with rolling blackouts in early 2001.
You don’t want to be able to vote before your local politicians socialize the energy system? Why not?
Pensions, political contributions and “Green Initiatives”.
PG&E is one of the largest political contributors in the state - most of it to Dems. Earlier this hear they dumped over $40 mil into a ballot initiative to strengthen their monopoly. It lost. That $40 million would have paid to replace the pipeline in San Bruno 8 times over.
LADWP are bad but PG&E are the biggest bunch of crooks in California - after the state legislature of course.
So you think a good way to end monopolies is to have the government take over private businesses? I’m puzzled to read that, at least here on FR.
Wow worse than LADWP? That is saying something.
So, do insurance companies holding the bag SUE the gas company for creating the problem?
You know who pays for that lawsuit in toto, of course.
Poor ratepayers.
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