On Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) established an Independent Safety Monitor to oversee PG&E’s gas and electric operations, a condition of their 2020 bankruptcy settlement. Earlier this year, the CPUC triggered an “Enhanced Oversight and Enforcement” process, also created through the bankruptcy agreement, for PG&E’s insufficient disclosures and progress on wildfire mitigation efforts discovered through a Wildfire Safety Division Audit in 2020.
Since 2017, a federal court-appointed monitor has presided over PG&E’s five-year criminal probation conviction stemming from the deadly 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion. The Independent Safety Monitor will be functionally equivalent to the Federal Monitor, which is set to end in January 2022, and will focus on PG&E’s governance processes, risk management processes, recordkeeping management, policy and training, data analytics, as well as the evaluation and performance of safety initiatives. The Independent Safety Monitor is expected to be chosen by the CPUC in November 2020 and begin their duties at the start of the new year.
RCRC’s letter can be viewed here.