Cpuc

California regulators on Thursday delayed action on a 20-year tolling agreement power contract between NRG Energy Inc. and Sempra Energy's San Diego Gas and Electric Co. The deal involves NRG's long-stalled plans to replace its natural gas-fired generation plant in Carlsbad, CA, in San Diego County.

California regulators on Thursday delayed action on a 20-year tolling agreement power contract between NRG Energy Inc. and Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas and Electric Co. The deal involves NRG’s long-stalled plans to replace its natural gas-fired generation plant in Carlsbad, CA, in San Diego County.

California regulators on Thursday ordered record-setting $1.6 billion in penalties for Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s in the Sept. 9, 2010 failure of its 30-inch diameter natural gas transmission pipeline that caused death and destruction in San Bruno, CA (see Daily GPI, Sept. 13, 2010).

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Wednesday asked natural gas utilities to weigh in on a staff report that identifies some of the best practices and new technologies in methane leak detection.

Calls for change at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) grew louder at a state Senate hearing Wednesday during which outside experts called for reforms and a consumer attorney exposed alleged ex parte communications violations dating back more than a decade.

Emails sent in late 2010 and early 2011 show that collaboration between Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) was unusually close, considering that regulators are expected to keep arms-length relationships with the companies they oversee.

More concerns about ongoing relationships between regulators and the companies they oversee continue to swirl in California where some state energy officials increasingly are being criticized for being too cozy with the energy industry. Regulators and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) still can’t silence the critics, and the issue is spreading to other utilities and the oil/natural gas sector in the state.

At his first meeting leading the five-member California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Michael Picker set a new tone Thursday, emphasizing more internal focus on safety and the regulatory agency’s organization. Only one relatively minor energy item was on the agenda.

Bowing to pressure from its critics, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) on Monday offered more emails containing questionable communications between some of its now-terminated executives and state regulators. It also promised to turn over during the first quarter all pertinent emails since 2010.