State calls for $2 million audit of PG&E’s focus on safety

Nearly five years after the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion, state regulators called Monday for a $2 million utility-financed investigation into whether Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is putting enough emphasis on safety.

The state Public Utilities Commission said it would consider a staff plan at its Aug. 27 meeting to hire a consultant who would look at whether PG&E’s “organizational culture and governance prioritize safety.”



Since Picker’s remarks, PG&E Vice Chairman and former President Chris Johns has announced that he will step aside at the end of the year.

PG&E issued a statement Monday, saying: “We look forward to a constructive dialogue with the commission and staff and to sharing our commitment to safety and the concrete actions we have taken over the last several years to back it up.”

The utilities commission said the safety audit would provide a “deeper review of PG&E’s and PG&E Corp.’s organizational culture, governance, and operations, and the systemic issues identified by the National Transportation Safety Board.”

Among the post-San Bruno problems cited by regulators were the death of a contract worker during a power plant demolition in Kern County in 2012 and security breaches at the Metcalf transmission substation in San Jose, which was attacked by gunmen in April 2013.