but as vicky mentioned, not to be forgotten is the california public utilities commission, the cpuc.y people believe the puc is the watchdog that forgot to watch. we sat down with the puc's executive director. ♪ >> in many ways it's a matter of time and distance. time is significant. took this tragedy more than 50 years manifest. >> the analogy is we've had people out writing speeding tickets on the highways, but not noticing that the bridges were crumbling. and there's -- that's a problem throughout our infrastructure including in gas. >> distance is also revealing. just 12 miles from the site of the explosion is the headquarters of the california puc, and in this case, distance isn't just measured in mileage but rather the growing gap between the puc and pg&e. >> a litany of failures that began 50 years ago plus, and every week there are more revelations about failures by pg&e. some public and some that come up in our own investigation that will ultimately be public. it's very disappointing. >> it's an interesting reversal. for decades the puc and pg&e got along famously. in fact,

. >>> the california public utility commission is set pipeline testing. regulators ordered the utility to ease the pressure on the line. wants to raise levels on certain lines. meets guidelines, safety officials call it deficient. >>> a plan to raise tuition has been shelved for now. boost tuition as much as 16%. state cuts have left the university with 2 .5 billion dollar budget shortfall. tuition hikes are not the answer. students were relieved to hear that. >> rather nice that they are finally putting their foot dawn saying we can't just always be loading this burden on to the students. >> we've had more than 300% on fee increases on students in the last ten years. >> suggested looking to private corporations to help close the gap. >>> police are working with aviation authorities to figure out how a camera lens fell from a sky and damaged a home. police sent out this photo today of a 9-inch hole in a roof. heard a loud bang and went to investigate. she found this in the ground. the lens from a camera. >>> berkeley city officials are considering splitti

given pg&e's history, the ntsb and the california public utilities commission are also taking an interest in what's happened in kuper cuppertino this week. >> we are, thankful that nobody was hurt. we are here to answer any questions or concerns >> reporter: the explosion was caused bay buildup of natural gas in the garage. an investigation reveals six other leaks. >> it's concerning for us. we don't want to find leaks in our systems. we are committed to getting to the bottom of not only this community but other places. we want to make sure that everybody is safe. >> feels safe now because they checked everything. >> reporter: the door-to-door served two purposes. public safety and public relation. you are taking a live view from the mass cam. you can see that the fire went through the roof of the home. that's because, although pg&e workers went here shortly after the explosion, it took 90 month to shut off the gas line. that's because the works had to drill from three different locations in order to pinch off the lines and stop the flow of gas to this home. reporting live, noelle walker,

. >> another bill would create a safety position with the california public utilities commission, which oversees gas transmission lines statewide. friday marks one year since the san bruno disaster. tune in for an nbc bay area news special report. san bruno fire, remembrance and recovery. it airs live friday at 4:00 p.m. >>> there are still questions and tears in nevada's state capitol after yesterday's shooting spree. five people died, including the gunman. six others were wounded. this is the first homicide in carson city in three years. today local and national agencies continued their investigation, look for a motive. why would 32-year-old open fire at an ihop restaurant? five national guardsmen were shot. three died. he then later turned the gun on himself. >>> effective today. the pentagon increased security at military bases around the country. authorities say it is not in response to a particular threat, but instead of precautionary measure. a pentagon spokesman say the ten-year anniversary was mentioned in the documents seized on the raid of osama bin laden's pakistani compound

c, status update on proceedings at the california public utilities commission. supervisor campos: great, and mr. campbell is here to present for the public utilities commission. before that, i just want to ask the executive officer if you wanted to say anything before mr. campbell spoke. >> we have arranged the proceeding that mr. campbell will present a brief synopsis of the term sheet before you, and i will follow-up on that with -- with comment. >> good afternoon, commissioners. in your packet, you had received the presentation that i and my colleagues at the puc had given at the san francisco public utilities commission meeting on tuesday. i am going to provide a high level overview, and i'm happy to take questions throughout the presentation as you see fit. one thing to start out, just to highlight is, we have been working together very collaborative lee -- very collaboratively. the chair of my commissioned it highlights how she would like to have feedback from this body. where we are -- i can just sort of go through a bit. first, as you know, the program,

i spoke to the california public utilities commission about my concerns about smart meters.uggested that because of the criminal practices of pg&e, from contamination in hinckleyville to what has happened in san bruno. it is time to let regional municipal government become a public utility. think about that and other revenue generation. some brave congressmembers have put forth a lawsuit against obama and gates, a complaint for conjunctive debt relief. please join us in a class action lawsuit. president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> ray hart, director of san francisco open government. i am talking not only to the board but to the folks watching on sfgtv. for the first time in a long time, i have watched all the members of the board of supervisors remain in the chamber for public comment. good job. a month ago, i came in and said we owed an apology to the members of the sunset task force for the disparaging reports -- disparaging attempts to keep the government open. the person who really needs to apologize is the board of supervisors. since you were the ones who would ap

. >>> california public utility commission denied a request from pg&e today to increase pressure in some transmission lines. after last year pipeline explosion in san bruno the p uc ordered the utility to lower the pressure. pg&e request today called for restoring pressure to levels where they were before the tragedy. >>> number of parties said wait a minute. this is pretty high profile. people are concerned. we ought to have an open public process. >>reporter: public hearings on increasing pressure will begin september 19. utility wants full pressure restored before its demand for gas reaches its peak during the winter. >> and on the eve of the one year anniversary of that fatal pipeline explosion some victim family are banding together for pipeline safety. last year blast killed 8 people destroyed 38 homes and caused millions of dollars in damage. >> new national non-profit the gas pipe safety foundation seeks to raise awareness of pipeline safety through public campaigns. this week bill was introduced in the legislature to make utility officials meet with first responders so they will

. >> and pg&e and the california public utilities commission are still trying to develop an opt out option for customers who do not want smart meters installed in homes. abc 7 reports today, they took one more step in that difficult process. demonstrators say pg&e wireless radio transmissions are making them sick, and the only opt out option should be a moratorium on smart meter installation and use. a woman calling herself piggy sue says she's among those sensitive to the frequency autos there is go tok a rash of meterside really soon. a killing by smart meter if we don't stop this. >> inside of the cpuc, pg&e and other state utilities came to provide details to help a judge and public evaluate different proposals. pg&e's preferred option is installing smart meter and turn off transmitter. >> pg&e does appreciate the need for a customer choice. and opt out. and are proposal is to turn radio off. so when radio is off, there would be no pulse, no transmission. >> the proposal includes charging customers one upfront fee of 270s wind advisories a monthly charge of $14. or a lower fee of $135

. >> and employees of the california public utilities commission raised money for those this bench and dedicated today to victims of the explosion. it sits out siftd commission head quarter as long side a weeping willow tree. the tree honors their colleague, jackie greg and her daughter who perished in this explosion. >> memorial will remind us of our responsibility as members of the body of state regulators to put safety as our number one priority. >> the crestwood neighborhood where that explosion occurred is slowly coming back to life. of the 38 homes destroyed, none has been rebuilt yet. seven building permits have been issued and six applications are under review. of the homes, repairs have been completed on four permits have been issued for 10 others and 35 of the homes with minor damage have been fixed. allen and cindy tell us they'll never move back and plan to start nofr a new neighborhood. they agreed to speak to abc 7 about their lives, then, and now. >> they go here for dinner, we were all good friends. >> that is the way it was in the san bruno neighborhood just a year ago

this month and 1100 employees lost their jobs. >>> today officials for muni and the california public utilities commission will meet to talk about a continuing investigation. this comes after muni operations were called the worst in california. they say if the problems are not addressed, muni will be fined $20,000 a day. the cpuc has been investigating muni for the past seven months. >>> let's see how the commute is going. sal -- sal said it's slow in quite a few spots. >> it is slow. traffic is going to be busy coming into los gatos. 85 is slow from 101 to 17. yikes. that's terrible. 280 up to cupertino. the south bay has been kind of quiet but now they are making up for it. this is a look at the peninsula where 101 is pretty busy heading down to san mateo. 280 is much better. across the bay from hayward to union city. we've had a couple of minor incidents but just a bun everyone of slow traffic from 2 -- on 238 to 880 south. i want to show you the bay bridge toll plaza getting backed up for about a 15-minute wait. this morning in san francisco, northbound 101, i just wanted to show you this picture, the

the california public utilities commission was admonished for the oversight of the system. >> families and neighbors of the people killed in the explosion and fire will hold a memorial service at skyline college in san bruno tonight. we'll have live coverage and stream it live in its entirety on our website at abc7news.com. >>> on this one-year anniversary of san bruno pipeline explosion, cpuc has denied a request from pg&e to increase pressure in some of the gas pipelines. they were ordered to lower the pressure on all of its lines. it calls to restoring pressure levels before the tragedy. >> a number of parties said, wait a minute. this is pretty high profile. people are concerned. we ought to have an open public process. >> public hearings on increasing pressure will begin on september 19. the utility wants full pressure restored before the demand for gas reaches its peak during the winter season. >> demands for air-conditioning is what we're looking at this week because of the higher temperatures. >> especially those of you inland. we're going to get close to hundred? >> yes, brech

the report also urged the california public utilities commission to conduct an audit of pg&e's operation. he is the puc execkive director. >> eight people died in san bruno. no one is hiding behind a rock trying to get away from the responsibility. >> pg&e says it embraces the board's recommendations for improving the operations and management of the gas system. the pg&e watch dog agency praised the ntsb report. >> lot of death and destruction could have been avoided if pg&e had done its job in terms of making sure it was inpecting pipe lines, maintaining it. >> reporter: back live here, the state attorney general is also continuing to investigate what happened here. reporting live in san bruno, rob roth, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> fire investigators in seattle suspect a gas leak led to a home exploding this morning. just before 6:00. it broke windows throughout the neighborhood and sent debris reining down. some walked away hand in hand with their children. >> neighbor came running in, he said, he thought he smelled gas last night. i don't know. gas explosion. >> investigators say the hom

the report by the republican california public utilities commission found defects and problem was thef we can't reach a settlement parties will submit their separate proposal autos that woo wo mean there would be a hearing and muni could face fines up to $20,000 a day. >> and there is one group hopes to pressure the attorney general to pursue criminal charges against bank executives they blame for the mortgage melt down. members dropped off 38,000 signatures in san francisco upset harris may join a multi state settlement giving them immunity. >> california $1.7 tril quinn in home equity. and there is nothing will keep them from doing this again. >> right now we're evaluating proposal that's have been put forward. >> he wants the attorney general to investigate the bank executives for possible crimes. >> and tonight's money matters positive economic news triggers another triple digit day for the dow. wall street drove dow industrials up after claims fell to a five point low and government raised its estimate on how much the economy has grown. nasdaq dropping 10 points after cutting the

. >> in the months following the blast, the california public utility commission asked pg&e to show the other lines had been tested to prove that it could withstand the pressure, but they failed to meet the initial deadline in march, they reveal the they were missing a person of key gas line 50 records including information on the mind of blood. that same month, pg&e agreed to adopt safety components of the car planned legislation by congress woman jackie spear whose district includes san bruno, they agree to send a separate letter to all customers within 2,000 ft. of one of its pipelines. it also committed to installing more automatic and control shut off valves in areas where pipelines intersect with earthquake fault lines. and agreed to meet with first with-- responders something that it fell to do in the past. pg&e has since apologized that their pipeline was the cause. in a statement the company said that has taken multiple steps to improve the safety operations including intimate and more standards, and beginning a major new initiative to replace or operate many other gas lines an

. >> and muni negotiating with the california public utilities commission to avoid severe sanctions afterctors documented a number of violations. the report found deteareration and defects at various locations and there are problems with the auto mated system that controls trains. both sides told an administrative lawn judge negotiations have been very productive. >> we do believe we're making progress towards a settlement and that focus is on public safety. >> given the progress in negotiations the judge delayed establishing a hearing on this investigation but if muni does not come to an agreement on this issue koit face fines up to $20,000 a day. >> and we want to update you on breaking news we've been reporting there is a natural gas leak that has been capped and evacuations have been lifted. >> it's now safe for everyone who left home to head back. but classes will remain cancelled for tonight at as a precaution z as you can see, traffic is just a mess in this area. >> and there is a reminder we'll follow the stories at twitter and will keep you up to date. >> still head making your d

. >> another bill would create a sifty position within the california public utility commission which oversees gas transmission lines statewide. join us for an nbc bay area news special report. san bruno fire, remembrance and recovery. it airs friday at 4:00 p.m. >>> yesterday the big announcement. today the new binning. yahoo is in the spotlight for what it may do next. they had a meeting to discuss the future today. nbc bay area had exclusive information on the firing of carol bartz last night. tonight we have more insight. we bring in scott budman. scott? >> first off, money. a lot of people asking us what kind of severance package carol bartz would get. bloomberg is reporting about $10.4 million. yahoo! is not letting any time pass. our sources tell us among the things said at the meeting, first something interestg from the cofounder and former c, o jerry yang who told employees it's not for sale. new interim ceo tim morse saying together the company can return to the growth trajectory they're looking for. on a strong day for the stock market overall, investors reacted positively

. >>> outside the headquarters of the california public utilities commission there is a bench dedicated to the victims and a plaque says it it's in memory of a woman who worked for them. jacqueline greg died with her 13-year-old daughter. she worked for the cpuc for 21 years. we have more from the events remembering the anniversary of the disaster on our website, just go to ktvu.com. >> the woman accused of killing michelle lei made her first appearance today. amber lee just spoke to the suspect's former boyfriend. >> reporter: heather we are at the jail where the woman is staying in housing unit number 24. a spokesman for the sheriff's department said she is kept in a single cell away from the other inmates for her own safety because it's a high profile case. >> department in session. rthis afternoon the 27-year-old made her first court appearance. she is a accused of murdering her former school mate. a nursing student disappeared three months ago while on a break. also in court today was this man, he is the father of the suspect's daughter and the man who reportedly came between the t

. >>> outside the headquarters of the california public utilities commission there is a bench dedicated to the victims and a plaque says it it's in memory of a woman who worked for them. jacqueline greg died with her 13-year-old daughter. she worked for the cpuc for 21 years. we have more from the events remembering the anniversary of the disaster on our website, just go to ktvu.com. >> the woman accused of killing michelle lei made her first appearance today. amber lee just spoke to the suspect's former boyfriend. >> reporter: heather we are at the jail where the woman is staying in housing unit number 24. a spokesman for the sheriff's department said she is kept in a single cell away from the other inmates for her own safety because it's a high profile case. >> department in session. rthis afternoon the 27-year-old made her first court appearance. she is a accused of murdering her former school mate. a nursing student disappeared three months ago while on a break. also in court today was this man, he is the father of the suspect's daughter and the man who reportedly came between the t

. >>> san francisco officials are set to meet with members of the california public utilities commission today to discuss the status of a state investigation. a report in february uncovered major safety issues on the light rail system. problems with defective tracks as well as tunnel control systems that operate poorly or not at all. the state has threatened muni with fines of up to $25,000 a day. today's meeting is to determine how muni has responded. >>> this afternoon the city of alameda will announce it has reached agreement with the u.s. navy to transfer the entire former alameda naval air station to the city for free. the former base now called alameda point has been closed since 1997. alameda has been planning to redevelop the sites -- the change -- recently the city has been negotiating with the national laboratory about building its second campus there. >>> in east bay lawmakers vowing to hold hearings to review the transportation commission's decision to spend nearly 180 million dollars to buy a san francisco office building. the mtc wants to buy and renovate a former postal se

. >> officials are set to meet with the california public utilities commission to discuss the statustigation. a report in february uncovered major safety issues on the light rail system. they include problems with defective track as well as tunnel control systems that operate poorly or not at all. the state has threatened with fines of up to $20,000 a day if problems are not addressed. today's meeting to determine how muni has responded. >>> this afternoon the city of alameda will announce it has reached an gramm with the u.s. navy to transfer the -- the naval base to they for free. the former alameda naval air station has been closed since 1997. they've been planning to redevelop the 918 acre complex since 2000 and has been working with the navy to cleanup the old base. the city has been negotiating with a national lab about building is second campus there. >> 5:34. when you get up, it is still warm out. had the windows rolled down when i was driving in. >> the weather will change over the weekend. >> cooler not only during the afternoon but at night starts today. good morning. sea

year-long investigation, it's issued a long list of safety changes it wants pg&e and the california public utilities commissionadopt. >> pg&e had failed with respect to their emergency response and shuts off the gas flow that was not shut off for over 90 minutes after the rupture. >> we will embrace those conclusions and we will take them into our operations and make sure we implement them appropriately. at the end of the day it's about making sure our system is as safe as possibly can be. >> reporter: pg&e says they're already working on changes. they're currently pressure testing 150 miles of pipeline across northern california that have similar characteristics to the san bruno line. >> we would like to see pg&e be much more transparent. >> reporter: consumer advocates at the utility reform network are skeptical. not only do they want pg&e to be held accountable, they want assurances rate payers won't have to shoulder the cost of safety improvements. >> everyone wants to see the pipelines in their neighborhood tested. everyone wants to be assured that they're not going to be the next victim. >> when you thin

the california public utilities commission says the utility must appear before all five members of the puc if it would like to increase pressure in major pipelines. they wanted to do that just by going to the executive director. in february, the puc ordered the pipeline pressure to be reduced. >>> today governor jerry brown may sign a package of bills stemming from the san bruno explosion. the bills by various bay area lawmakers are aimed at improving the safety of california's natural gas transmission system. state senator leland yee wrote one of the bills. he will be in studio with us at 6:10 to talk about his legislation. >>> the power is coming back on slowly this morning. an outage is affecting millions in arizona, parts of southern california and mexico. and we just checked the latest numbers and electricity has been restored to some 930,000 users. but the power outage has forced the cancellation of 11 flights to and from san francisco. so call ahead if you are flying today. the outage was accidentally triggered when an electrical worker removed a piece of electrical monitoring e

adopted by the san francisco public utilities commission, and placing $227,779,748 on controller reserve subject to completion of project-related analysis pursuant to californiaironmental quality act ceqa, where required, and receipt of proceeds of indebtedness, as certified by the controller for fy2011-2012. supervisor chu: thank you. colleagues, these all deal with the public utilities commission. item #5 is one that i have co- sponsored with supervisor avalos. it is a huge project going forward, with many moving pieces. it is meant to give us an update on projects and how they are coming in terms of scheduling in the budget. 6 through 10 are amendments to existing contracts. item number 11 is an item that we intend to continue to the call of the chair. if i could ask julie to provide an overview on the program and join us through six through 10. >> because of the number of scheduling constraints, it has been six months since of the committee has been updated on the underwater improvement system program. we will focus on what we encountered in the field during the last six months or so. so, this is where we stand as of december 20. the number of projects in

california and how they spell out into the larger fabric of the communities we live and work in. >> to you have an ipad? >> no, i do not. >> good afternoon. balkan to the public utilities commission meeting, brought to order. -- welcome to the public utilities commission meeting, brought to order. please call role. >> commissioner moran, commissioner caen, commissioner tores, commissioner courtney,. commissioner vietor is excused from today's meeting. >> i believe that mr. shepherd as a substitute language? >> an alternative language is the redline copy in the folder, paragraph three, just a clarification that shows a significant a larger change in clarifying the understanding of what was said. following public comment and after additional comment, the commissioners address for wholesale customers through 2018 and beyond, there was recognition that the relationship with wholesale customers was contractual and long-term supply issues would have to be dealt with under the terms of a large supply agreement. customers represented by the bay area water supply and conservation agency, under an agreement as to how the short and long-term water supply needs can be met. this changes the p

the san francisco public utilities commission will pay more to dig beneath roots as an alternative. the p.u.c. still needs to sign off on this deal. >> california supreme court set to hear arguments on a key issue in a legal battle over same-sex marriage. get is whether state law gives the sponsors of prop 8 the right to appeal a court ruling that found the ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. the sponsors of prop 8 may not have legal standings to appeal. the governor and state attorney general do have that right z they have refused to do so. state supreme court will have 90 days to issue opinions after tomorrow's hearing. >> and it's the end of an era in san francisco. next, the day for the stow lake boat house as we know it and why many say it just won't be the same. >> a wild afternoon in southern california. where three major fires are burning now. >> i'm spencer chris chichblt will we have a big warm up coming our way but does it have staying power? the answer is in the accu-weather forecast coming up. >> he has a heart of a soldier. after 6:30 premier of an operaou you can see >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. >>