CPUC Details SoCal Pipeline Safety Concerns

California Public Utilities Commission staff filed a report Jan. 17 finding San Diego Gas & Electric and SoCal Gas plans for testing and upgrading almost 400 miles of natural gas pipeline in populous areas need improvement. CPUC Consumer Protection and Safety Division interim director Michelle Cooke wrote that although the two companies generally meet the commission’s directives, they omitted 23 miles of pipeline that should be vetted and upgraded to increase its safety. Between them, the companies have 1,622 miles of high-pressure gas transmission pipeline crisscrossing populous areas of Southern California. All but 408 miles of it has been adequately tested and meets safety standards, according to the Safety Division report. Of the 408 miles, the companies believe that one 23-mile segment of pipe in the SoCal Gas system also has been adequately tested and is operating at a safe reduced pressure. The Division recommends that the segment be included in the utility’s safety work plan. The Division also recommends that the utilities reprioritize the order of work on the 385 miles of pipeline covered by their plans to address the areas of highest potential risk first. The utilities filed the plans in response to a CPUC order issued last summer in the wake of the Pacific Gas & Electric pipeline explosion in San Bruno in 2010. In its order, the CPUC required gas utilities to review their systems and identify areas where pressure testing had not been conducted. They then had to develop plans for testing and replacing that pipeline as needed. The commission also is requiring placement of more remote- or automatically-controlled shutoff valves in gas transmission lines.

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CPUC Details SoCal Pipeline Safety Concerns

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