(CNN) The California Public Utilities Commission may penalize one of the country's largest utility providers after an investigation found it had been falsifying records for five years.

The commission, tasked with regulating privately owned public utilities in the state, claims Pacific Gas & Electric Co. violated California law by failing to locate and mark their natural gas pipelines in a timely manner.

The commission's safety and enforcement division found PG&E pressured supervisors and other workers to falsify data so that the locating and marking work would not appear as late. The investigation also found the company did not have enough employees to regularly locate and mark natural gas pipelines.

"Excavators, including construction crews, rely on PG&E to inform them exactly where PG&E underground natural gas infrastructure is located," CPUC stated. "If PG&E fails to meet its legally imposed responsibilities to locate and mark the required deadline of the excavating contractor's request, a contractor may simply commence digging despite the danger."

And while there may not always be immediate consequences to hitting a pipe, damage can sometimes take years to manifest itself, the report said.

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