Opinion

California PUC dodges its job ON INVESTIGATING THE SAN BRUNO PIPELINE DISASTER

Rene Morales and Assemblyman Jerry Hill after speaking a the Public Utilities Commission meeting. Rene Morales and Assemblyman Jerry Hill after speaking a the Public Utilities Commission meeting. Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close California PUC dodges its job 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

State regulators have found a way to make the San Bruno pipeline nightmare even worse. After halting public comment on looming fines, the Public Utilities Commission wants to farm the dispute out to a private mediator - a decision that's left the public in the lurch.

This move essentially caps public input and awareness of an important process. It relieves the state PUC of its direct responsibility to set fines that could range beyond $2 billion. It underscores once again the agency's inept handling of the pipeline explosion.

The decision to go to a mediator comes with qualifiers. The mediator will be a giant, worldwide law firm, DLA Piper, whose chairman emeritus is former Sen. George Mitchell. His public service is exemplary: 15 years in the Senate, four years fashioning peace in Northern Ireland, a report on steroids in baseball that led to tougher testing, and two years as President Obama's Mideast peace envoy.

It's a glittering resume, but Mitchell's remarkable accomplishments aren't the point. By taking the unusual course of hiring a mediator, the PUC is admitting it doesn't have the credibility to handle the job itself. It's giving up on its basic duty to sanction dangerous pipeline operations.

There are other problems. The hiring of Mitchell's firm was done with the assent of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which negligently operated the pipeline. But other parties such as the cities of San Bruno and San Francisco and consumer watchdogs were left out. It was a one-sided decision that ignored the very people harmed by the explosion. In addition DLA Piper has worked on other PUC-regulated utilities, links that cast doubt on its independence.

This decision process makes it clear what has happened. The PUC, with its credibility already in shambles from its inept oversight of the pipeline, rushed to find a prominent outsider to shoulder the burden. A code of silence was invoked to contain word of the decision until it took place. The state agency can now sit back, bask in the glow of distinguished statesman, and let the outside mediator do the heavy lifting.

It's been nearly two years since the disaster killed eight and destroyed 38 homes in a San Bruno neighborhood that believed an underground gas line was operated safely and overseen by a dutiful state agency.

Clearly it's time to end the inquiry and move forward. Earlier this month the PUC shut down public hearings and moved to closed-door negotiations due to run until Nov. 1. That decision was bad enough since it closed off outside observation.

At issue now are fines that may range from $200 million to $2.5 billion, a gulf that illustrates how far apart the many sides are. In addition, PG&E wants rate increases to pay for pipeline upgrades elsewhere in its network.

It's the PUC's job to take on this work and to make its decisions in public. It's doubly important to do this in a way that convinces a skeptical public that vigilant and fair-minded regulators are at work. The record shows that the agency is falling far short of its duty.