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PG&E Accused of Delaying Crucial Repair Work

San Jose Mercury News

September 15, 2010

Even though state officials awarded PG&E nearly $5 million in ratepayer money in 2007 to replace a South San Francisco natural gas line identified as a high safety risk, the utility never did the work and is now seeking another $5 million to make the repairs, a consumer group charged Wednesday.

The accusations came as the San Bruno catastrophe generated a wave of legislative proposals to reduce the chances of such a disaster happening again, including a move from the Obama administration to stiffen oversight of the nation's pipelines and boost fines for safety violations.

The allegations from the consumer group The Utility Reform Network center on a section of pipe north of the gas line that exploded in San Bruno. That South San Francisco section is on a list of 100 portions of pipe that PG&E has declared a high risk. TURN added that the California Public Utilities Commission granted the company almost $5 million from ratepayers three years ago, assuming PG&E would replace the pipe in 2009. But TURN said that work wasn't done and that PG&E has recently submitted a list of construction projects it wants the state agency to pay for, which includes a request for another $5 million to replace the same section of South San Francisco pipe.

Read the full story on the Mercury News website.

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