CPUC Proposes New $1.6 Billion Fine Against PG&E For San Bruno Pipeline Explosion

SAN BRUNO (KCBS)— The President of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has proposed a $1.6-billion fine against PG&E for the pipeline rupture and explosion that killed eight people in 2010.

The latest recommended penalty is more than $200 million higher than the last. That was a $1.4 billion penalty, which was appealed.

"We are gratified that in fact some things are starting to happen and on the surface it looks like a little bit more than what the administrative law judges had recommended before," said San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane.

The new fine proposal would shift the bulk of the money from the general fund to safety improvements, but Ruane says he needs more details about exactly where that money will go.

"I want to see what they're actually going to do with this $850 million to put back into the ground. I really didn't see anything there about what we were fighting for— for many, many months; a pipeline safety trust," he said.

A PG&E spokesman says they are still reviewing the proposal, but plan to comment on it sometime Friday evening.