PG&E Postponed Replacing Gas Pipeline Under South San Francisco While Charging Customers

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. delayed replacing a segment of high-risk gas pipeline underneath South San Francisco while charging customers for the repair.

PG&E was supposed to make the fix in 2009, according to papers PG&E filed with the California Public Utilities Commission in 2007 that were released Wednesday by The Utilities Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group.  PG&E requested and was allowed to levy rate increases on customers to pay for the $5 million replacement of a segment of pipeline underneath South San Francisco that its internal review had categorized as being one of its hundred most risky and failure-prone stretches of pipeline.

The segment of gas line is part of L132, the same line of pipe that exploded last week in San Bruno. 

But PG&E still hasn't made the repair, the company acknowledged in a statement yesterday.

The company said it performed an assessment in 2009, "and based on the updated assessment, and the assurance it provided us, we rescheduled the project accordingly."

Yet in a new filing, PG&E requested another $5 million for the same project, even though customers have already been paying the increased rates. 

PG&E said the replacement is now scheduled for November 2013.  The company said it checked the segment of pipeline for leaks on Friday and found none.