Pg&e Cutting Gas Pressure On Lines With Wrong Kind Of Pipe

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is cutting pressure on four gas transmission pipelines in the Bay Area after discovering the company used pipe or components that did not comply with federal rules for populated areas, utility officials have told state regulators. PG&E told safety officials with the California Public Utilities Commission this month that the company had used lower-grade pipe and parts allowable in rural areas — where fewer people are at risk should a pipeline fail — on eight lines around the state that run through urban areas. Federal investigators found that record-keeping problems were a major contributing factor in PG&E’s worst-ever gas pipeline failure, the 2010 explosion in San Bruno that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. PG&E said it finished that review in July 2013, said Richard Kuprewicz, a pipeline integrity expert in Washington state who has advised a PG&E consumer watchdog group, The Utility Reform Network.