PG&E unit reaches settlement related to locate-and-mark investigation

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Oct. 4 – PG&E Corp. subsidiary Pacific Gas and Electric Co. reached a settlement with the Safety and Enforcement Division of the California Public Utilities Commission and the Coalition of California Utility Employees in connection with the order instituting an investigation and order to show cause into the utility’s locate-and-mark practices, according to an 8-K filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Under the settlement, Pacific Gas and Electric agreed to a total financial remedy of $65 million, comprised of a fine of $5 million to be paid to the general fund of the State of California in accordance with the time frame and other provisions governing distributions set in the utility’s plan of reorganization and $60 million in shareholder-funded system enhancement initiatives undertaken to enhance the utility’s locate-and-mark compliance and capabilities and the reliability of the Underground Service Alert ticket management information that the utility maintains.

In accordance with the settlement shareholder-funded system enhancements will include locate-and-mark ticket compliance audits to verify accurate categorization of timeliness, compliance audits using field reviews of gas and electric locate-and-mark tickets to assess performance, procedure adherence and compliance and additional locate-and-mark staff.

The expenditure of any sums not fully expended within three years of the effective date of the settlement will be subject to further agreement among the parties.

The company said Pacific Gas and Electric expects that the system enhancement spending under the settlement will occur through 2022.

Other parties that participated in the settlement negotiations but have not joined the agreement include the Public Advocates Office of the CPUC, the Utility Reform Network, the CPUC’s Office of the Safety Advocate and the City and County of San Francisco.

PG&E said the proposed settlement will be reviewed by an administrative law judge, and these other parties will have an opportunity to provide comments on the proposed settlement before a final CPUC decision is issued.

The settlement is subject to approval by the CPUC in a written decision and, following approval by the CPUC, approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California.

PG&E said the CPUC may accept, reject or modify the terms of the settlement, including imposing additional penalties on the utility.

The electric and natural-gas utility is based in San Francisco. The company filed bankruptcy on Jan. 29, 2019 under Chapter 11 case number 19-30088.

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