Retired cold-case investigator tracked the suspect to his door
$97.5 million penalty comes in wake of fatal natural gasline explosion
SACRAMENTO » On March 29, as he prepared to turn in his gun and badge, longtime cold case investigator Paul Holes drove out to the Citrus Heights home of Joseph James DeAngelo, parked his car and sat outside.
Holes had been tracking the “Golden State Killer” for nearly 20 years and it finally felt like authorities were closer
SAN BRUNO » State regulators slapped PG& E with a $97.5 million fine Thursday for improper back- channel communications, the latest trouble for the utility in the wake of a fatal explosion in San Bruno.
The fine was imposed by the Public Utilities Commission — the same state agency with which PG& E conducted the improper communications.
The Public Utilities Commission ordered PG& E to not collect from ratepayers $63.5 million in revenue it would have normally obtained from them in 2018 and 2019. The utility also is required to forego another $10 million the next time it asks the PUC for new billing levels in a general rate case.
In direct fines, the PUC ordered PG& E to pay $12 million to the state treasury, $ 6 million to the city of San Bruno and $ 6 million to the city of San Carlos.
The fine was the most recent consequence following a lethal explosion of a natural gas pipeline in San Bruno that killed eight and leveled a residential neighborhood. Federal investigators determined that the blast was caused by a combination of PG& E’s shoddy mainte- nance and flawed record-keeping, as well as lax supervision by the state PUC.
The PUC has been harshly criticized for nurturing a cozy relationship with PG& E. Some critics believe those close ties created an atmosphere in which improper communicat ions could occur between PG& E lobbyists and PUC staffers and policy makers, including some of the PUC commissioners.
San Francisco- based PG& E has been fined numerous times for an array of misdeeds connected with the aftermath of the San Bruno explosion, which occurred in 2010.
In 2015, the PUC imposed a $ 1.6 billion penalty on PG& E for causing the San Bruno explosion, the largest such financial punishment ever levied on an American utility.
A federal jury in 2016 convicted PG& E of six felonies for crimes the utility committed before and after the San Bruno catastrophe. PG& E was branded as a felon after a judge sentenced PG& E in 2017, following the convictions.
The disclosure of 65,000 emails among PG& E executives and key PUC officials revealed the cozy nature of the relationship.
In one email, former PUC President Michael Peevey offered advice to a former PG& E executive about how the utility should handle its public relations regarding a federal criminal indictment of the utility.
“PG& E’s decision to issue a press release last week anticipating all this only meant that the public got to read two big stories rather than one. I think this was inept,” Peevey wrote.
In another email, Carol Brown, formerly chief of staff for Commissioner Peevey, wrote to Laura Doll, a former PG& E executive, with some advice about how to handle one of the proceedings related to the San Bruno explosion. In the email, Brown said she had talked to one of the PUC administrative law judges about the matter.
“Send back a sweet note” to the PUC about the matter “and then wait for them to throw a fit” was part of Brown’s advice. Brown also said she was “happy to chat” about the matter with PG& E to help guide company officials through the PUC process.
Doll replied to Brown, “Love you. Thanks.”