The Califonia Public Utilities Commission has issued a citation to Southern California Edison for $8 million for safety regulations following an electric incident that occurred in Twentynine Palms, California on August 1, 2015.
According to the CPUC, the incident occurred when a person was injured when he struck a low-hanging energized powerline while riding an off-road vehicle and two people were injured when they contacted the energized powerline while trying to provide aid to the injured individual.
A CPUC staff investigation determined that a crossarm, on an Edison pole broke, causing a piece of the crossarm to fall to the ground. The 12 kV overhead line that the crossarm was supporting became suspended less than eight feet above the ground.
CPUC has also issued two citations totaling $5.05 million to Pacific Gas and Electric for violations of regulations resulting from two separate incidents in 2016 and 2017.
The CPUC issued a $3,050,000 citation to PG&E for violations of federal rules stemming from a 2016 Deer Park, California incident in witch PG&E employees caused natural gas to leak from a valve during an attempted repair of a service valve.
According to the CPUC, the ignition of gas resulted in two injuries.
Another $1 million citation was for a 2017 Yuba City incident in which a pipe was not constructed properly during installation.
CPUC said that the leak and explosion caused injuries to PG&E personnel.
