EDITORIAL: If PUC decision on wildfire utility costs endangers Californians, abolish the commission

Oct. 27--Years of fears about unhealthy ties between the California Public Utilities Commission and the three giant investor-owned utilities it regulates now seem like they'll come to a head in the near future.

Thursday, the CPUC postponed a hearing for a third time on whether to ratify a proposed decision by two of its administrative law judges to require San Diego Gas & Electric shareholders -- and not ratepayers -- to cover $379 million in costs from San Diego County's fatal October 2007 wildfires. Those fires killed 10 people and destroyed 1,738 homes.

The administrative law judges' proposal seems eminently reasonable after sparks from power lines ignited brush, leading to the Witch, Rice and Guejito fires. Their Aug. 22 proposed decision built on two state investigations that showed the utility failed to adequately trim tree branches and other vegetation near its power lines. SDG&E's claim that extraordinary conditions, such as strong winds, led to the wildfires was not borne out by investigators.

Since August, the importance of the CPUC's ultimate decision has grown immensely because of the wine country fires that devastated Northern California. Those began Oct. 8 and went on to kill 42 people with others still missing, destroy some 8,700 structures and scorch nearly 250,000 acres. An Oct. 10 Bay Area News Group report detailed how Sonoma County dispatchers received numerous reports of fallen Pacific Gas & Electric power lines and exploding electrical transformers the night of Oct. 8.

Cal Fire and the CPUC are now investigating what role PG&E's infrastructure played in the massive inferno. Amid reports it has only $800 million in insurance, the giant utility could eventually face billions of dollars in claims.

But even before the disaster, there were reasons for ratepayers to worry. PG&E and Southern California Edison jointly urged the CPUC on Oct. 4 to overturn the proposed decision against SDG&E on the grounds that climate change had increased wildfire risks and that the decision went against some past precedents. On Thursday, the Bay Area News Group reported that PG&E is also aggressively lobbying the CPUC to be able to pass unrecovered costs from this month's fires to its ratepayers. Given the sharply increased frequency of massive wildfires in the West this century, climate change should be a factor in how utilities are regulated.

But if the CPUC decides that the giant utilities should no longer be held accountable for keeping their power lines safe in risky wilderness areas, they are less likely to do so -- especially PG&E. In January, it was socked with the maximum possible $3 million fine by a federal judge after being convicted of six felonies related to the 2010 gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. Five of the felonies were for pipeline safety violations; one was for obstructing a federal investigation into the tragedy.

This only scratches the surface of PG&E's ugly history. For nearly a decade, PG&E has worked to stall the state's push to make utilities map where power lines were a fire threat. Newly released CPUC audits showed that in recent years PG&E violated power-grid safety rules 11 times and was overdue in finishing work orders more than 3,500 times in the counties ravaged by this month's inferno.

It's hard to imagine that a powerful government agency would put people's lives at risk. But that's what the CPUC would be doing if it insulates utilities from the consequences of unsafe practices. If the CPUC decides to do that, it should be abolished.

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