The California Public Utilities Commission may penalize one of the country’s largest utility providers after an investigation found it had been falsifying records for five years.
« Excavators, including construction crews, rely on PG&E to inform them exactly where PG&E underground natural gas infrastructure is located, » CPUC stated. « If PG&E fails to meet its legally imposed responsibilities to locate and mark the required deadline of the excavating contractor’s request, a contractor may simply commence digging despite the danger. »
And while there may not always be immediate consequences to hitting a pipe, damage can sometimes take years to manifest itself, the report said.
« Utility falsification of safety-related records is a serious violation of law and diminishes our trust in the utility’s reports on their progress, » CPUC President Michael Picker said in a statement. « These findings are another example of why we are investigating.
