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 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.
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TURN, which accused PG&E of deferring maintenance on a wide variety of its equipment in recent years, said failing to fix the South San Francisco pipe with the $5 million was particularly troubling because last year the utility spent nearly $5 million on bonuses for six of its top executives.
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