Utility’s current safety standards already meet several aspects of
the proposal
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) welcomes the recommendations of
the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to expand the use of excess flow
valves on natural gas distribution service lines in the United States.
Excess flow valves can immediately detect a change in pressure and
restrict gas flow if a line is broken or damaged. The valves act as an
added layer of protection for customers and communities by limiting the
amount of gas that can escape from a damaged service line.
PHMSA’s proposal includes the installation of excess flow valves on new
and fully replaced service lines for multi-family residences and small
commercial entities, in addition to the existing requirement for
single-family residential lines.
As part of PG&E’s unwavering commitment to the safety of its customers
and the communities it serves, the company voluntarily imposed this
practice throughout its 70,000-square-mile service area earlier this
year. More than 127,000 excess flow valves have been installed by PG&E
for single-family homes since 2009.
“We embrace PHMSA’s proposal and are incredibly pleased that the
industry is increasing its safety standards. At PG&E, our highest
priority is the safety of our customers, employees and the communities
we serve, which is why we began implementing these standards earlier
this year as a part of our mission to become the safest, most reliable
gas system in the nation,” said Nick Stavropoulos, PG&E’s executive vice
president of Gas Operations.
As part of PG&E’s commitment to safety, the company has also:
-
Decommissioned all of the company’s 847 miles of cast-iron pipe in its
system, replacing it with stronger, more resilient and seismically
sound pipe
-
Opened a new
gas operations control center in 2013, which employs the most
advanced technology available, providing unprecedented visibility into
the natural gas system and enabling a more predicative and rapid
response in an emergency
-
Applied new gas leak detection technology that is 1,000
times more sensitive than traditional methods in order to help
find and fix leaks before they become a problem
-
Established itself as one of the fastest in the entire industry
responding to gas odor calls—averaging 19.9 minutes in 2014
-
Completed 10 out of the 12 recommendations from the National
Transportation Safety Board and work on the remaining two is on track
PG&E is reviewing all aspects of the proposed rule and will work with
regulators and stakeholders on any recommendations. The proposal is open
for public comment through September 14 and if approved, would go into
effect in October of 2015.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas
and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco,
with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the
nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and
Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/
and www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/index.page.
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