Fined and verbally flogged by federal and state regulators over the past 18 months since its catastrophic gas transmission pipeline explosion in San Bruno, CA Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) received more critical reviews Monday, some at its own hands. The utility’s bad record-keeping was a “contributing factor” to the San Bruno tragedy, the report concluded.

The state regulatory commission safety staff reports confirmed what has emerged since the Sept. 9, 2010 pipeline rupture, namely that PG&E’s record-keeping as part of its pipeline integrity management and safety system was “deficient, ineffective, incomplete and inaccurate.”

The report recommended that state regulators reject a proposed $222.8 million PG&E wants to spend to correct its flawed record-keeping systems, calling it “excessive.” It is part of the larger $2.2 billion pipeline safety enhancement plan that the utility has pending before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the majority of which it would have paid for in utility customer rates.

Separately, as part of its periodic self-reporting to the CPUC’s Consumer Protection and Safety Division (CPSD), PG&E said a third-party engineering consultant had identified problems with pressure relief valves at 19 different locations spread over 15 counties in which some of its gas pipeline system runs. “Although the venting problem does not affect safety, the failure to properly vent is not in compliance [with state rules and regulations],” PG&E’s Bill Gibson, director of regulatory compliance and support, told CPSD Director Michelle Cooke.

The latest CPUC report was undertaken a year ago when the state regulators put in place an investigation to determine if PG&E had violated any provisions of the state regulatory commission code, general orders or decisions related to safety record-keeping for its gas system prior to the San Bruno incident. Thus, this is CPSD’s and some third-party records management expert’s review and conclusions. Eventually, it could be the basis of more fines levied against the San Francisco-based combination utility, which has already been dinged for nearly $55 million in the past 12 months for alleged failings related to San Bruno and an earlier (see Daily GPI, Jan. 31, 2011).

“While the San Bruno pipeline rupture and fire cannot be attributed simply to inadequate records management practices, PG&E’s failure to manage the [utility] Gas Transmission Division’s information in a systematic and controlled manner was a contributing factor,” said the CPUC report, dated March 5.

The report said its latest findings are consistent with the findings of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the CPUC’s independent investigatory panel and PG&E itself (see Daily GPI, Sept. 1, 2011; June 10, 2011).

“Each may have reached its findings and conclusions based on different considerations and perspectives; however, each has concluded that PG&E’s record-keeping practices have been deficient and have diminished pipeline safety.”

In response, PG&E Executive Vice President Nick Stavropoulos, the head of the utility’s gas operations, acknowledged that the utility needs to improve how it “collects, stores, accesses and shares information about its natural gas system,” and it has a “major effort” under way validating the safe operating pressures for critical parts of its pipeline system. “Our push to improve record-keeping is one of the ways PG&E is going back to basics to create a culture that puts safety first.”

Nevertheless, the CPUC report listed eight separate critical shortcomings in the utility’s gas transmission record-keeping at the time of the San Bruno explosion. The alleged failures included: lack of a record management strategy; lack of records management practices and processes that were verifiable, documented and available to all; lack of complete and accurate records of the organization; lack of a level of protection that had appropriate access control; lack of a record-keeping program complying with applicable laws and business requirements; lack of a system to accurately and efficiently retrieve records; lack of education/training in records management practices for all staff; and lack of a secure and monitored disposal process for records.

The report said PG&E admitted deficiencies in its record-keeping but has proposed an overpriced program that regulators should reject. It urged the CPUC to take a close look at a separate record-keeping review and proposal that PriceWaterhouse Coopers has done for PG&E, which is due at the end of March, and that it confirms that many of the deficiencies that existed before San Bruno still exist.

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