Pacific Gas

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said it would study the potential for using the tides in the San Francisco Bay to generate electricity. The San Francisco-based utility said that it would team up on the yearlong study with San Francisco and closely held Golden Gate Energy of Washington, which has a preliminary federal permit for tidal energy in the bay.

Utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric should pay a record $2.25-billion penalty for a 2010 natural gas explosion in San Bruno that killed eight people and devastated a neighborhood, regulators recommended Monday. If approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, it would be by far the largest penalty ever levied by the agency. The PUC's largest fine up to now was $38 million, charged against PG&E for a 2008 natural gas explosion in Rancho Cordova. A report released Monday by the Commission's Safety and Enforcement Division said its investigators found more than 100 violations by the company, some dating back decades.

A federal judge rejected a last-ditch effort by two state regulators to delay Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s bankruptcy reorganization, clearing the way for the state's largest utility to emerge from Chapter 11 as early as Monday. After a hearing in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker denied a request by California Public Utilities Commission members Loretta M. Lynch and Carl Wood to block the company's departure from Bankruptcy Court.

To a casual observer, it looks like someone barnstorming several hundred feet above sparsely populated Central California terrain in a small plane. But it's UC Davis atmospheric researchers surveying Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s 600 miles of natural gas pipelines between Sonoma and Fresno in a single-engine Mooney TLS packed with scientific instruments designed to sniff out leaks of methane, a potent source of global warming. Their mission: Find gas leaks several miles downwind from the source cheap and fast, then dispatch ground crews to fix the problem and stop more pollution from spewing into the air. The $295,000 experimental project is funded by the industry organization Pipeline Research Council International, with principal backing from PG&E.

PG&E Corp.'s Pacific Gas & Electric, California's largest utility, won a four-month extension to file a Chapter 11 recovery plan free from interference from creditors and other groups. The utility's sole right to file a plan was extended from Aug. 6 to Dec. 6. Creditors, shareholders and others with a stake in the case could have presented their own plans had the extension not been granted.

PG&E Corp.'s Pacific Gas & Electric utility said it fired a consulting company suspected of hacking into the computer system of an irrigation district that is trying to take over territory from the utility. An employee of the consultant, Meridian Pacific Inc., allegedly obtained computer files last week from the South San Joaquin Irrigation District, which is attempting to take over territory with about 35,000 power meters, Pacific Gas spokesman Jon Tremayne said Monday.

More Customers for Pipeline: Pacific Gas Transmission Co. added 12 natural gas shippers who would use its proposed PGT--PG&E pipeline expansion to Kern River Station. With the addition of these shippers, including Canadian producers and California industrial users, the project is fully subscribed, the company said. The $945-million pipeline expansion is sponsored by PGT and its parent, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Last April, three Southern California utilities signed up to use some of the pipeline's expanded capacity to ship gas from Alberta, Canada.

The most important thing to know about Proposition 16 on California's June ballot is that it was written and bankrolled by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for the benefit of PG&E. There'd be nothing wrong with that, necessarily, if its customers also benefited. But Prop. 16 seeks to lock them into the private utility's grasp without any realistic opportunity of ever escaping to an electricity provider with cheaper rates. And it would apply to the customers of any private -- or "investor-owned" -- utility, such as Southern California Edison or San Diego Gas & Electric.

A natural gas explosion early Friday morning at a Pacific Gas & Electric Co storage plant near here caused $2 million in damage to the plant, PG&E spokeswoman Janic Wright said. No injuries were reported. The cause of the blast was under investigation.

Vandals apparently dumped poison into tanks at Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s marine biology lab near San Luis Obispo, killing thousands of commercial abalone worth more than $177,000, authorities said. The shellfish belonged to Abalone Unlimited Inc. "The evidence points to a deliberate act," said Hugh Staton, president of Abalone Unlimited. "We would really like to know why it was done. We don't have a clue as to who, what or why."

Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s plan to install 'smart meters' in this affluent Bay Area community of eco-friendly homes, yoga studios and organic restaurants has unleashed a torrent of anger among customers who fear the devices will expose them to hazardous pulses of electromagnetic radiation. Hundreds of Fairfax residents have posted red-and-white "Smart meter not here" signs beside their mechanical meters as a warning to PG&E technicians. A few have secured their spinning-dial meters with gates, cages and padlocks.

A plume of chromium-tainted groundwater is once again bearing down on residents of Hinkley, Calif., where more than a decade ago an underdog battle with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. spawned a multimillion-dollar settlement and the Oscar-winning film "Erin Brockovich. " FOR THE RECORD: Water contamination: An article in the Nov. 15 Section A about groundwater contamination in Hinkley in San Bernardino County referred to the substance involved, hexavalent chromium, as a heavy-metal isotope.

Pacific Gas & Electric officials Tuesday announced a series of measures aimed at upgrading and improving the safety of the company's gas transmission system and encouraging nationwide reforms in the wake of a gas line explosion in San Bruno that killed eight people. "We feel it's necessary to go beyond the existing regulatory requirements and move to a newer and higher level in terms of safety and reliability," Chief Executive Peter Darbee told reporters Tuesday in unveiling the company's Pipeline 2020 plan.

State regulators Thursday put a brake on actions that the state's biggest utilities can take to shut off electric and natural gas service of residents who fall behind on their bills. The California Public Utilities Commission made existing rules permanent and added new protections to help customers pay their bills and avoid having to put up further credit to retain services. The new rules extend the time for paying off balances and lessen — and sometimes eliminate — requirements to pay new deposits after a disconnection.

California boasts some of the toughest standards in the nation for boosting the use of renewable power. Getting utilities to meet those mandates is proving to be even tougher. State law requires the Golden State's three large investor-owned utilities to procure 20% of their retail electricity sales from clean sources by the end of 2010. But with less than six months left to meet that requirement, even government watchdogs don't expect the power companies to make it. Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. are likely to end this year with a combined 18% of their retail sales coming from clean sources such as wind, solar and geothermal power, according to the California Public Utilities Commission.

Several California utilities should be penalized for receiving bonuses while falling short of their energy-saving goals, the state utility regulator's independent watchdog arm said Tuesday. From 2006 to 2008, Southern California Edison , Pacific Gas & Electric Co., San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Gas Co. spent $2 billion of customers' money, amassed through a small charge on each bill, to fund energy efficiency programs that were expected to return $2.7 billion in savings.

PG&E Corp. said fourth-quarter profit rose 34% after its Pacific Gas & Electric utility, California's largest, won a rate increase to cover costs for investments in its power system. Net income rose to $203 million, or 56 cents a share, from $152 million, or 43 cents, a year earlier, the San Francisco-based company said Friday. The results matched the average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Pacific Gas last March won a 2007 rate increase of $213 million to recover costs for its investments from its customers.

PG&E Corp. can't ignore some California laws in reorganizing Pacific Gas & Electric, California's largest utility, an appeals court said Wednesday in a ruling that applies to an old version of the unit's bankruptcy plan. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said PG&E could only avoid state laws related to the financial condition of the utility. PG&E had sought to sidestep dozens of California laws as part of a reorganization plan it submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in 2001.

The most important thing to know about Proposition 16 on California's June ballot is that it was written and bankrolled by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for the benefit of PG&E. There'd be nothing wrong with that, necessarily, if its customers also benefited. But Prop. 16 seeks to lock them into the private utility's grasp without any realistic opportunity of ever escaping to an electricity provider with cheaper rates. And it would apply to the customers of any private -- or "investor-owned" -- utility, such as Southern California Edison or San Diego Gas & Electric.

The earthquake near Eureka, Calif., this afternoon -- a reported magnitude 6.5 -- snapped power lines, toppled televisions and shook up local stores, but so far no injuries have been reported. The quake struck at 4:27 p.m. and was centered under the Pacific Ocean, about 25 miles southwest of Eureka. A tsunami was not expected, according to the National Weather Service. About 25,000 customers were without power, according to Jeff Smith, spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. "We've got some downed power lines as well as some other damage to other equipment," he said.