PG&E customers get bill for gas rebuild

[CreekDog]

I would like to preface this article by saying that,

PG&E sucks so badly it hurts (well, I like the staff...but I digress). Their explosion in the neighborhood adjacent to mine back in 2010 which was caused by errors, neglect and excuses and in the aftermath, has been followed by maddening fights with the city of San Bruno, the victims of the disaster and legal filings that sought to blame the victims for their damages, has led to my hatred of them and frankly, the way they've acted in this area --it's clear that's exactly what they want me to do.

PG&E customers get bill for gas rebuild
SAN BRUNO BLAST Regulators say customers to pay 65%, no profit cut
Jaxon Van Derbeken
Updated 10:34 pm, Thursday, December 20, 2012


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/PG-amp-E-customers-get-bill-for-gas-rebuild-4135713.php#ixzz2FiU5MBzR

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers will pay nearly two-thirds of the $1.8 billion it will cost to upgrade the company's natural-gas pipelines, which were exposed as potentially unsafe by the 2010 explosion in San Bruno, the California Public Utilities Commission decided Thursday.

In dividing up the costs of overhauling PG&E's 1,100-mile urban gas transmission system, the commission also abandoned a proposal that would have slashed the profit that the company could make on the project.
PG&E originally wanted its customers to pay almost all the cost of its three-year effort to inspect and replace pipelines, the safety of which was cast into doubt when a major transmission line ruptured and exploded in San Bruno, killing eight people.
Instead, customers will pay about 65 percent of the $1.8 billion the company was authorized to spend, while PG&E will pay 35 percent. The utilities commission followed the recommendation of an administrative law judge, who said PG&E should pay a greater share than it proposed because its mismanagement had allowed its natural-gas pipeline system to deteriorate.
The commission also told PG&E it would have to absorb any cost overruns.

...

Although it saddled PG&E with a greater share of the cost than the company wanted, the utilities commission also rejected what would have been a significant penalty - a five-year profit sanction for pipeline safety breakdowns leading up to the San Bruno disaster.
The sanction had been proposed by administrative law Judge Maribeth Bushey, who said the state commission should cut PG&E's legally guaranteed rate of return on what it spends on the overhaul from the current 11.35 percent to 6.05 percent. That profit comes from the amount PG&E is allowed to bill its customers.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/PG-amp-E-customers-get-bill-for-gas-rebuild-4135713.php#ixzz2FiTtmeuH