&e's mistakes while pg&e profits?at's number one. number two are concerns that the lead investigator can't be objective. both issues make assembly member jerry hill very angry. >> i asked that you step aside in matter. by refusing to do so you would be sustaining a culture of complacency that you have pledged to end. >> reporter: hill spoke quickly and sternly at this morning's public utilities commission meeting. he had a lot to say and only one minute. his target was puc president who appointed himself to lead the investigation into what pg&e should be fined for the san bruno tragedy. >> i find it offensive someone so responsible for the culture has taken it upon himself to lead the direction of this proceeding. >> reporter: yesterday he answered criticism by saying the commissioner would be working closely with him on the investigation. hill today called that a smoke screen and was backed by san bruno's mayor. >> we want the cpuc to know that citizens are watching closely and with great concern. >> reporter: he was

&e's mistakes while pg&e profits?at's number one. number two are concerns that the lead investigator can't be objective. both issues make assembly member jerry hill very angry. >> i asked that you step aside in matter. by refusing to do so you would be sustaining a culture of complacency that you have pledged to end. >> reporter: hill spoke quickly and sternly at this morning's public utilities commission meeting. he had a lot to say and only one minute. his target was puc president who appointed himself to lead the investigation into what pg&e should be fined for the san bruno tragedy. >> i find it offensive someone so responsible for the culture has taken it upon himself to lead the direction of this proceeding. >> reporter: yesterday he answered criticism by saying the commissioner would be working closely with him on the investigation. hill t a smoke screen and was backed by san bruno's mayor. >> we want the cpuc to know that citizens are watching closely and with great concern. >> reporter: he was the only topic

something that pg&e, the city says has not been doing. take a look at what we are talking about going back to september of 2010, the explosion in san bruno, a devastating impact on the city. eight people were killed, 38 homes destroyed, 70 homes damaged. the negotiations between pg&e and the city were not moving forward, according to the city. take a look at what san bruno says is happening this is what they are announcing right now. they say pg&e walked out on negotiations and they did that last week. the city says, it will join formal negotiations with the puc and teague to make sure that the city -- and pg&e to make sure that the city is fully compensated and there's a significant fine for pg&e. the city wants pg&e to fully fund itselfy million dollar compensation trust fund which to -- its 70 million dollar compensation trust fund. in addition to the money paid to the city of is and that could go for anything. the city manager talked to us about that a short time ago. >> that damage we believe will last generations long past the time

something that pg&e, the city says has not been doing. take a look at what we are talking about going back to september of 2010, the explosion in san bruno, a devastating impact on the city. eight people were killed, 38 homes destroyed, 70 homes damaged. the negotiations between pg&e and the city were not moving forward, according to the city. take a look at what san bruno says is happening this is what they are announcing right now. they say pg&e walked out on negotiations and they did that last week. the city says, it will join formal negotiations with the puc and teague to make sure that the city -- and pg&e to make sure that the city is fully compensated and there's a significant fine for pg&e. the city wants pg&e to fully fund itselfy million dollar compensation trust fund which to -- its 70 million dollar compensation trust fund. in addition to the money paid to the city of is and that could go for anything. the city manager talked to us about that a short time ago. >> that damage we believe will last generations long past the time

the city says the last time they talked with pg&e was last monday. one of the negotiators, greg, told us today he was surprised by the news conference saying pg&e never broke off negotiations. >> we have not. we're continuing the gauch-- negotiations, met with them last week. >> reporter: now, again, in the news conference, the mayor did say his office received a call from pg&e at about 10:45. that was just 15 minutes before the news conference. we're hearing from pg&e that the city and the utility company will be meeting again to negotiate as early as this friday. now, my colleague, tom vacar, is continuing to work on this story and will bring you the latest developments on this he said/she said story between the city of san bruno and pg&e coming up at 5:00 and 6:00 tonight. back to you. >> thank you. >>> investigators in the san joaquin valley have found about 1,000 bone frag meants for their search for victims. and they offered an update. they've been following maps drawn by death row inmate, wesley shermantine, on where the bodies are bur rid. th

you can see that pg&e crews are still working here. pg&e confirmed for thus morning that this transformer which failed could have been caused by unusual power spikes. that would include illegal pot growing operations somewhere in the neighborhood. crews still on the scene trying to restore power and repair the burned utility pole. pg&e says this transformer failed shortly before 4:00 a.m. sending out sparks and flames and plunging nearly 2400 customers into darkness. >> pg&e was looter scene. they were shutting off the power to the area to the poles. why they were shutting down the power part of the top of the telephone pole fell down on to the high tension wires. >> out of safety concerns, firefighters waited for pg&e crews to put out the fire. then crews began working to restore power. this business was left in the dark. the owner says this is the second time in three weeks that particular transformer has failed. >> already this month transformer already got smoke. they replace already. >> he says a pg&e rep told him that an illegal

pg&e went up instead of the firefighters.because the firefighters actually don't have a ladder on their truck and they can't use water to fight that transformer fire because there's a lot of oil in the transformer so they needed to use a carbon dioxide extinguisher. pg&e has the cherrypicker truck and they have that extinguisher, plus the fire chief that i spoke with said that they preferred to let pg&e work around those lines because it's obviously a dangerous situation. so it looks like they do have the fire out at this point and they should be able to restore power to the rest of the neighborhood. at one point there were about 2400 customers without power. some of the power was then restored but this one block of duboce still has the power out right now. so that they can make sure that everything is okay with that line. there was some significant damage done to that line and to that transformer. and now that pg&e has wrapped up putting that fire out, firefighters will go and make sure that the pole which also caught fire i

and a monthly charge of $10. >> i have a great problem with pg&e. i think the company is extremely badly run. i think it's harassing its customers. i think it is focused entirely on profits, not on service whatsoever. >> reporter: barbara says possible health issues with the smartmeters motivated her to rebel against them. she thinks pg&e invested in cheap meters. >> installed it, finding out what the troubles are with it now and they are not going toic that it back. what they are going to do is make all of us pay for it. >> reporter: nearly 9 million meters have been installed in northern and central california. a pg&e spokesman tells cbs 5, we believe an individual choice when it comes to the meters at our customers' homes. we'll work quickly to put into place any alternative for our customers." this is a live look at some of the protestors outside the commission building. it says no fee right over here. so what is the next step? pg&e now has to type up a letter within the next 15 days explaining the opt out choice. that letter will eventually be

anne makovec shows us pg&e agrees that some things not quite right. >> reporter: that's right. 25 pg&e customers are still without power and they probably will be maybe up until this evening. you can see pg&e still hard at work here on duboce working to figure out why that power line blew and who may have overloaded it. it looks like a tiki torch burning on a power line. a transformer caught fire just before 4 a.m. at duboce and stevenson. firefighters could only stand by. >> we always want to make sure to secure the scene first, make sure everyone south and make sure that it is deenergized before the fire is put out. >> reporter: that's what pg&e did almost two hours after the transformer blew. power had been out to almost 2400 customers. duboce was shut down and this person wasn't happy. >> a lot of money lost throughout the day. >> reporter: his electrical shop was out of power for most of the morning and that's after a previous run-in with this very transformer. >> it was smoking. so we called pg&e and pg&e came out and replaced it with a new transformer and it blew out again. >>

once pg&e shut off the line, pg&e crews themselves actually went up and put out the fire with a carbon dioxide extinguisher. they could not use water because of the oil in the transformer lines. once pg&e put out the fire, they started the process of assessing the damage to their lines and it was significant because we had not only the transformer that blew and was on fire, that fire spread to the line, and to the poll, as well. so they have some work to do. only 130 customers affected at this time. back to you guys. >> thank you, anne makovec live in the mission district. >>> let's get an update on developing news in, uhm, oakland. let's go out to gianna, i go he is, chopper 5 is over the scene now. >> reporter: we have been monitoring this situation. we just got some new information. so police are searching for a suspect in the oakland area. this is near 44th and telegraph avenue. this is video from chopper 5 that we shot moments ago of the area. there are streets closed around the area. this is 44th street right at telegraph avenue. we also learned that streets near there as well as

pg&e crews are on the scene and this whole area, pg&e on the scene and they are trying to get a handle on this transformer fire. when we first arrived here atville lense why -- at the area, we can show you what it looked like earlier. again pg&e is telling us that the fire here started at about 3:54 this morning and they are characterizing this as a transformer failure. we spoke to pg&e this morning and they called it a transformer failure and top of the poll is on fire. they tell us when they arrived there was still sparks and there were still flames. >> the transformer was still parking and it was burning at the time we arrived here. pg&e was already on the scene so they were shutting the power to the area to the polls. why they were shutting the area, a power poll fell down and then it sparked again. >> now i just got off the phone a few minutes ago and they now say crews are managed to restore power to all but 130 customers at this time. they say the last of the customers should have power restored by 8:00 this morning and this does have traffic implications so if the commute takes

this morning pg&e says $70 million is enough to fix it all. pg&e is setting a cap on the amount it will pay to rebuild the area leveled by that exploding pipeline. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. the signs of rebuilding are up and down the block after the neighborhood was completely devastated here in 201037 but how much is enough? the city of san bruno and pg&e have been in negotiations trying to figure out how much would be needed restitution to pay for it all. but now pg&e is putting a cap on how much it will pay for the physical construction. that cap being about $70 million and the trust fund so far we're told has about $12 million. this is to go toward rebuilding san bruno after the natural gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people and leveled 38 homes and damaged dozens of others. san bruno's mayor is saying not so fast, that the utility in his opinion is no longer acting in good faith. this comes as the city of san francisco filed a lawsuit against a federal agency claiming that it failed to enforce safety

the money is independent from a trust fund that pg&e already set up. instead, restitution will be used to in a way heal the city. we asked the mayor what specifically the restitution money will be spent on. >> some of the ideas we developed included endowments for scholarships for children of the neighborhood, contributions for youth sports leagues, additional mental health resources for city staff, contributions to local nonprofit organizations which support the local community, and support of large capital projects such as libraries and memorial parks, its. >> reporter: we also spoke to pg&e today to get its side of the story. and executive says that he is surprised that this announcement was made and understands that pg&e was planning to return to negotiations later this week. he says pg&e remains committed to working with the city. >> what we and the city agree is that we want to provide the city with funds that will enable it to take care of major issues, programs or projects that it feels are needed to help the city and its residents continue the

. >> san bruno accusing pg&e of breaking off talks about restitution for a neighborhood wiped out by the explosion. we are in san bruno where rebuilding the community should first start with their own home. >> i was under the impression from the city leaders that this is going to be sped up and people will be back on their feet and try to recover. to me a year and a half is to long. >> pg&e came around with their representatives that we thought was great. they were coming door to door. they promised the same thing. >> reporter: that happened arrest blast but today the mayor said this. >> city is concerned that pg&e is dodging its commitment to pay. . >> pg&e is stalling negotiations to settle millions of dollars in restitution to the community. >> reporter: the restitutions for enhancements including to scholarship funds, youth sport leagues, mental health, local nonprofits, libraries and a memorial park? pg&e said it's not stalling. >> we have a meeting that's scheduled the leader later this week to continue the discussions and we look forward to that and bringing to resolution that

not at all, says pg&e. phil matier on the company's quick and careful response. >>> reporter: that's right. it was one of the more interesting events and twists we have seen in this ongoing story of trying to make this san bruno neighborhood whole again. and here is the story. >>> reporter: in the wake of the horrific gas leak blast that killed 8 people, pacific gas & electric promised to did whatever is necessary to make the little town of san bruno whole again. and indeed, pg&e has already agreed to spend upwards of $70 million to repair the area that was affected by the blast. but the mayor says that's not enough. >> we want some additional funding. >> reporter: what for? >> could be library. it could be things for kids, things for seniors. >> reporter: and what does the san bruno blast have to do with the town getting a new library, playground or senior center? >> i think overall, something like that would help to soothe the city. wouldn't it be nice if -- if -- if in fact you could take your children,

shortly after the disaster struck, the head of pg&e met with san bruno residents. >> he said pg&e was behind us, they're going to support us. i just would ask them foul fill their commitment. >> tonight they were not fulfilling their commitment. they worked with city leaders to set up a $100 million relief fund to set up emergency assistance and relief repairs. there was a fund designated for the city to recover and it had broken down. >> now they want to just do the minimum required by law. we will not let that happen. >> reporter: he said he got a long long-awaited call from pg&e asking to set up a meeting. the two parties met last week for a healthy round of negotiations. the city discussed its desire to use the second trust fund for a memorial park and scar -- scholarships for people. >> we discussed meeting them on friday, and that is what we did. we are committed at pg&e to doing everything we can. >> reporter: so that meeting is supposed to take place on friday. the mayor also announced today that san bruno has officially petitioned the cpuc to become part of a global settlemen

indeed pg&e is already agreed to spend upwards of $70 million to repair the area that was affected by the blast but the mayor said that's not enough. >> we want some additional funds. . >> reporter: for what? >> library, could be things for kids, things for seniors. . >> reporter: what does the blast have to do with the town getting a new library? playground or senior center? >> i think overall something like that would help to soothe the city. wouldn't it be nice if in fact you could take your children who in fact still get upset when daddy lights the barbecue or can't sleep at night to a facility where they could relax. >> reporter: when the city felt the ongoing talk was pg&e were going nowhere they called in the guy in the red tie, public relations sam singer so help stage a press conference to morning to put heat on the utility. >> our people are negotiators -- just very that if there is anything we need to get back to you on we will call. . >> reporter: and no sooner had the words left his mouth then pg&e which is reeling from questioning about its pipeline safety program announ

cg mcnichols 0:34:05 "he said pg&e was going to be behind us. they were going to support us.mitment." -- mcnichol's dice que poco despues que el accidente ocurriera el lider de pg&e acudio a la comunidad y les dijo que los apoyaria... ahora este residente de san bruno pide que cumpla con su palabra -- hoy, el alcalde anuncio que la compaÑia de servicios estaba lejos de cumplir su obligacion.. pg&e trabajo con lideres de la ciudad para crear un fondo de 100-millones de dolares para solventar emergencias de los residentes y reparaciones a propiedas. --jim ruane dice que las negociaciones llegaron a un acuerdo de un fondo adicional de 70 millones de dolares que seria destinado a ayudar a la restauracion de la ciudad.. cg jim ruane 1:001:11 "now they want they simply want to walk away after donating the minimum required by law. we will not let that happen." -- el mandatario aÑade que la compania quiere librarse de futuros pagos y solo responder con el minimo que requiere la ley.. -- pero minutos antes de expresar sus preocupacion es al publico ruane dice haber recibido una llamad

pg&e initially an to the settlement last spring.ties commission said it would fine the utility one million dollars for each day pg&e didn't disclose the records after a march deadline. the agreement stalled when an assembly man hill and others call the fine too small. >>> this morning the president of california's fish and game commission is under fire for hunting the same animals he's designated to protect here in california. this photos shows dan richards holding a mountain lion he hunted and killed in idaho. it appeared on a website. in 1990 california vote areas proved a measure to make it illegal to hunt mountain lions in the state. animal rights activists are outraged. >>> californians trust the fish and game department and their commission to be protect terse of our wildlife -- protecters of our while life resources this person is showing he doesn't care. >> what he did in idaho was neither illegal or immoral. >> the legal hunting activity in idaho of mountain lyons has no -- lions has no -- >> and ma'am rights activists are

we already have one in place with pg&e. we are set to head that included before the end of february. we also need to is a bullet -- submit updated information plant. we have one that is already certified. we need an updated one that has been certified with the firm that we have been negotiating with in 2010 as our supplier. obviously, that is not correct. pretty pro forma. i expect that to get approved pretty quickly once we submit that. we're also doing the final word on finalizing the contract with noble americas, some back office services, that we require. the term sheet has been made public. the deal points have already been arranged, and it is the hard work of putting that into a contract language. the other item that i have is a big one, which is the cpuc update, where things stand. we're waiting to hear on what will be the method for calculating the bond amount for any cca, legislation that allows cca stipulates that all cca's must post a bond designed to cover the anticipated costs of, should a cca terminate abruptl

as of yesterday pg&e offered to pay 260 million of that.n dollar balance. the utility company contends it shouldn't have to pay for the improvements because the regulations that mandate them are new, put in place by the state puc last june in response to the deadly san bruno pipeline explosion. consumer advocates say customers should not have to pay because pg&e has been overcharging them for years and the company should have been maintaining the lines all along. the cost would be $1.85 a machine for the average customer. this battle is not over -- a month for the average customer. the battle is not over a hearing starts march 12th. a decision is not expected until later this year. katie marzullo, abc7 news. >>> :36. budget problems in call nut creek are forcing the police department to change and even suspend some safety programs, traffic unit eliminated traffic enforcement around schools and some neighborhoods will . ending focus on school outreach and concentrate on downtown entertainment district. >> the public, for the most part, will

. >>> how safe are pg&e's natural gas pipelines? the utility is telling state regulators tests show 2,000 miles of pipe can handle the gas a couple of workers who took part in the testing are saying the opposite. terry mcsweeney is live at the public utilities commission offices in san francisco. >> reporter: those commissioners have been hearing two different stories about what the safety level is on those gas pipelines in northern and central california. pg&e saying we've tested them, they are safe. crews saying we've looked at them and they are not. some of the testing going on we talked about this issue pg&e telling the utility it has verified safe operating pressure in 2,000 miles of its pipelines. but, here comes two veteran welders telling the puc the gaslines are riddled with well flaws and repairs that have been made were not made correctly. one worked as an inspector says if the san bruno pipeline was like the one he inspected this the east bay recently, he's not surprise fail. the san bruno pipeline blew in 2010, killing

pg&e set up two funds. first, a $100 million rebuilt san bruno home, mostly for victims immediate needs right after the disaster. then there, is a separate truck for -- trust for the city to be funded for rebuilding infrastructure, $12 kblinl has been paid so far. but city leaders say the community needs mer than new sidewalks and landscaping. >> we felt we're entitled to something else, those funds are only to be used for that. the trust fund language is restrictive as far as what those funds can be used for. >> their wish list includes scholarships for children and help for youth sports leagues. pg&e says it's not stalling and on board with san bruno's goals. >> and at the end of the day, we respect the position city leaders are in this that this process move forward. we're committed to making that happen. >> the neighborhood looks like the disaster zone it was. people just want pg&e to build on the lots it now owns. >> why aren't they build something maybe there are reasons ychl we'd like the neighborhoo

. >> reporter: pg&e is still securing the screen. you can see the utility pole up there. part of the major issue is not only the fire that hasn'ted apartment the top of the pole but the fact that that wire is hanging. you can see it hanging off the cross beam. pg&e says they've secured that line. that repair crew is on the way. repairs are expected to take all day. when we arrived, the pole was still on fire. the transformer failure left 2400 customers without power. now pg&e have restored power to all about 130 customers. they restore power to be fully restored by 8:30. >> we don't -- we stay away from the wires and the utilities gets shut down. if anybody iswalking around, the wires could fall down. >> reporter: you can see that san francisco police and the department of park and traffic are diverting traffic in this area. we have learned in just the last half-hour that san francisco police officers anticipate being outseer all day at this scene to divert power. and they are anticipating it will take pg&e all day to come out hire a

but today pg&e is firing back. they said that they set up a fund to help victims of the pipeline explosion. but the mayor announced today that the negotiations connected with a second $70 million trust fund has broken down. the second trust fund is designated to help the city of san bruno. pg&e said that they never walked away from the negotiations and scheduled another meeting this friday, even before the mayor went public. >> we are concerned that pg&e seems unwilling to acknowledge the damage done to the fabric of our community which will last for generations. >> pg&e senior's vice president says that he's not sure why the city went on the offensive. >> the surearch for bodies have led to a possible match to someone here in the bay area. over the past few days crews have recovered bone fragments, clothing, and a woman's ring inside of a well where one of the so-called speed free killers claims he buried around ten bodies. jodi hernandez is live in san joaquin where the search will move to be a second site. jodi?

there were 40,000 people that called pg and e about their gas. that means they call turned off their gas? did they need to do that? when do you have to? when there is a problem. how long did you think it takes pg and e to get out and turn it back on? 45,000 people. days weeks, may be a month. who has seen this in the streets. a lot of muck is in there is it's full of dirt and weeds you turn it to the right to tighten it and left to loosen it. your home work you have to look at your house, pop open the lid, look in there see what's going on in there it's not nice and clean like this. who has seen this around their house? everybody. each meter has a shut off. you want to find out where your gas meter is. you can keep track of your usage but you will know how to shut it off. here's the shut off. i have some tools up here, you can look at these. any hardware store has these. they fit on this and it allows you to turn off the gas. when we talk about the wheels it's these on top. if you have a broken pipe. they will spin like mad. when it's daylight, g

of the 2.2 billion pg&e agreed to a 320 million dollars. after yesterday, they bumped that number up to 360 million. that's 40 million more out of billions. customers would be left holding a 1.84 billion dollar bag. the utility company contends it should not have to pay for the improvements because regulations that mandate them are new, put in place by the state public utilities commission last june in response to the deadly san bruno pipeline explosion. consumer advocates say customers shouldn't pay because pg&e has been overcharging for years and the company should have been maintaining the lines all along. the battle is not over. it continues. a hearing on the pipeline plan and who should pay starts march 12th. a judge will oversee it, a decision is not expected until later this year. katie marzullo, abc7 news. >>> the domestic abuse trial of sheriff ross mirkarimi resumes today. the judge is expected to consider a motion to block key evidence after a one day recess. mirkarimi is charged with injuring his wife's arm during an argument ne

it was up main feeding circuit line that pg&e owns that somehow failed. they confirmed for us this morning that the original outage was due to that splice failure. how the outage occurred is under investigation. pg&e, our own puc, sfpuc, along with others, are going to confirm that as well, by our own engineers working coope>> [inau] >> i have faith in everyone doing the best job they can. i have faith, going forward, that we are going to work in a deliberate fashion to make sure that this does not happen. our city has systems that have been here for a long time. i was sad and embarrassed to have this happen on the night of our only monday night football game. everything was on the line. i am very glad we won. i am going to support the 49ers by doing the best job i can as mayor to make sure going forward everything is respected, additional particles are in place -- protocols are in place to guarantee this will not happen again. i think we have everyone on the same page ensuring this does not happen again. it should not happen. we do not want it to happen.

pg&e initially agreed to the settlement last spring. utilities commission said it with would fine the utility one million dollars for each day pg&e didn't disclose records following a march deadline. assembly hill and other critics call the fine too small. >> president of california's fish and game commission is under fire for hunting the same animals he's designated to protect in california. the photo shows dan richards holding a mountain lion he hunted and killed in idaho. in 1990 california voters approved a measure making it illegal to hunt mountain lions in the state. animal rights activists are outraged. >>> californians trust the fish and game and their commission to be protectors of their wildlife resources. this person is showing that he doesn't care. >> with what he did in idaho was neither illegal or immoral the legal hunting activity in idaho has no bearing on his ability to act as a fish and game commissioner. >> animal rights activists are calling for richards to resign or be fired. only the state legislature has the power

and that's why the mayor is talking to pg and e. he says they came up with a $70 million amount to be paid to the city, but they're saying that's only funded for $12 million. that's only one of the problems. in addition to that, they're saying they want more money. this is not compensation for the homeowners who were devastated by the natural gas pipeline explosion. as one city spokesperson says, it is really to make the city whole again. after the explosion in september of 2010 that killed eight people, destroyed 38 homes, damaged dozens of others. >> explosion and fire september 9th, 2010. that damage we believe will last generations, long past the time that homes are rebuilt, streets are repaired, and we're anxious to see that the community's interests are fairly and adequately resolved. >> reporter: this would be used to pay for things like libraries or fire stations in the future. basically the community would decide. we haven't gotten a dollar amount from the city. they say that's part of the negotiations, and the city of san

as tom found out today, pg&e said that is not true. tom is live from the recovering blast site. >> reporter: want you to just look at one thing here. compared to the massive amount of work that needs to be done here some residents say today's controversy is a bit off the mark. the mayor said pg&e has given up its responsibility to make restitution. >> we are calling on them to immediately return in good faith. now they want to walk away after doing the minimum require. >> we have not. we are continuing the negotiations, met with them last week, committed that they would continue and they will. >> reporter: the restitution is money above and beyond the 170 million pg&e said it's committed to the city and affected residents. specifically the negotiations are over community enhancements including contributions to scholarship funds, mental health resources, local nonprofits, libraries and a memorial park. pg&e said it didn't walk out or . >> they haven't said that to us. >> reporter: the mayor seems to contradict himself admitting negotiat

california public utilities decided pg&e customers can opt out of the program but for a price. as patty shows us reaction to the decision was anything but positive. >> this is a crime against humanity. >> she's right. >> commentary got personal. >> you should be ashamed of yourself. >> as emotions erupted at this california public utility commission meeting. >> you are security pro-- supposedly. >> four commissioners voted to approve pg&e's interim plan that gives customers the ability to opt out of smart meters they have to pay a 1 time of fee $79. there's a monthly charge of $10. low income customers will pay less. >> you have to pay to keep the meters you have on your house. >> customers were literally standing in front of the meters begging pg&e. >> public utility's commissioner says charging customers is fair and that the commission voted for lower fees than what pg&e initially proposed. >> so that meter you're still going to have to send somebody out to go read it. that's the cost. they're getting special treatment. 99% of the people are having special treatment. >> speci

trees and power lines, pg&e said the trees, lots of them have to go. thousands of marked trees in a 39-mile high voltage right of way. >> if we had outages there could be fines of up to a million dollars a day and it could cause a cascading outage. >> reporter: the 2003 northeast grid failure is blamed entrees but some say it's going to far. >> wholesale, destruction. >> reporter: she tears up at the thought. >> clear cut through got only knows how many california live oaks. >> reporter: this century old oak she said can't grow another 40 feet to the power lines. a group called save our sonoma tree social s is organizing a protest. >> if they are going to take responsibility for removing them they yesterday to take the responsibility of mitigating the erositn. >> he leave grass behind. >> reporter: activists say this shows grass won't stabilize the soil. working on a bill to stop clear cutting still maintain safety michael 58en. >> they should do the traditional trimming while they work out what the appropriate amount of tree removal. >> reporter: pg&e

pg&e facing a lot of scrutiny. and in san francisco. >> the assemblyman jerry hill and advocates are upset that ratepayer koz be asked to pay the majority of pipeline safety upgrade costs but pg&e says shareholders have paid and now, it's the customer's turn. the deadly 2010 pipeline explosion revealed a pattern of failures. the disaster also required a host of new regulations going forward. pg&e wants the state utilities commission to approve a improvement program most of which will be paid for by customers. critics say does it not include another $3 billion for debt, interest, and shareholder profits. and jerry hill sent a letter pointing that out and advocates filed their own plan for covering safety improvement costs. >> the largest portion of the plan is shareholder profits meaning pg&e could profit from the devastating events in san bruno. >> this would add insult to injury to allow pg&e to collect a profit on overdue improvements. >> any work should have been done in the past. we're only asking to cover work

pg&e says the trees are a safety risk. the utility claims if there was a fire the trees could spread the flames and any power outage caused by a fire. a group called save our sonoma trees is protesting. >> if pg&e is going to accept responsibility for removing those trees, they also need to bear the burden of mitigating the erosion. >> we will still be leaving grasses and shrubs behind that will hold the soil in place. >> tree supporters say the smaller plants aren't enough to stabilize the soil. they hope to have the trees cleared out before the start of the fire season. >>> 4:43 is the time. back to sal to check in the wettest part of the commute? >> i would say the east bay. just driving through myself and from the reports. but steve says the storm is moving through quick. just got a tweet from someone. i think they are in san francisco. saying that it's raining pretty hard there. it's raining pretty hard. steve will tell us that the rain is going to move through it. i don't think it will be an issue for driving this af

should you pay for the costs to upgrade pg&e's pipelines. ♪ >> a look back at the creator of one of the longest running shows on television. >>> and what is new in the >>> and what is new in the battle of the super bowl great! at progressive, you can compare rates side by side so you get the same coverage, often for less. wow! that is huge! ♪ and this is to remind you that you could save hundreds! [laughing] man: yeah. that will certainly stick with me. we'll take it. go, big money! i mean, go. it's your break, honey. same coverage, more savings. now, that's progressive. call or click today. >>> good evening. a couple of passings to note. legendary boxing trainer angelo dundee has died. perhaps best known for training muhammad ali. he traveled all over the world with him and was in his corner for all but two of h his fights. he also worked with sugar ray leonard, george foreman. he was 90 years old. >>> and he gave us the sounds of the '70s. don cornelius died today from it a self-inflicted gunshot. the show business icon will be best rememb

pg&e says the fees are necessary for man training the meters and paying workers to read them.rt meters pause of privacy and health concerns as well as questions about their accuracy. >>> breaking news for music fans, tmz reporting that soul train creator don cornelius has been found dead in his sherman oaks home. law enforcement sources are calling it a suicide. police were first called to the home around 4 a.m. on reports of gunshots reportedly cornelius was found with a gunshot wound to the head. he's credited with changing the landscape of television when his show "soul train" debutted in 1971 and ran until 2006. don cornelius, dead at the age of 75. >>> sheriff ross mirkarimi is asking for a speedy court hearing so he can ask a judge to allow him to see his 2-year-old son. his attorney filed a petition asking for an expedited family court hearing friday. the sheriff was barred from seeing his boy by a judge after he was look booked on domestic violence charges. mirkarimi is accused of bruising his wife's arm during a new year's eve argument. his trial is scheduled for febr

i'm about to, because of the cpuc, get charge hundreds of dollars a year, and it cannot possibly cost pg&e that much money. we definitely need a better representation and better controls over the revolving door. on community choice itself, i would just reiterate what we have said to a lot of you behind the scenes, and advocates have done a lot of homework over the last couple of weeks. we are getting an idea of where the sweet spots are on timing. it has been eight years since the first ordinance was passed, and we want to get this done as soon as we can. however, it is how little time, really. we need to make sure -- it is huddle time. we need to make sure we're taking enough time said that the build out meshes well. i would put at the caution -- let's not move too fast. we need to make sure we get this under way before the budget season takes us away to other concerns, but let's give ourselves plenty of time. something else -- i will speak more on items not on the agenda, but i want to touch on it here because it relates to cca. the internet is becoming a big deal. you have heard me ge

pg&e spokesman says all welds didn't by pg&e on pg&e pipes are inspected. and they are certified. but, still the allegations that we are hearing from these two welders are going to be investigated by pg&e. the puc still has to figure out who is telling the precise truth. terry mcsweeney, abc7 news. >>> this morning prop 8 supporters are deciding which court they will file an appeal with following yesterday's federal appeals court ruling that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. some legal experts say the ruling was written narrowly so it would only apply to california and possibly avoid supreme court review. both sides know it is not the end of the fight. >> i look at my family and i feel such pride and such excitement for our future and what lies ahead. >> this is really contrary and out of step with all the other law that is out there in the country. frankly, it is out of step with californians and the seven million voters who came out after a full debate said prop 8 makes sense. >> same-sex opponents say the 9th district appeals court in san francisco has its decis

and pg&e tells us that a line is down coming out of daly city.this point, it's not clear what caused the line to come down or when they will have it fixed. >>> and that certainly is not good news because boy, you're going to need some heat tonight. very cold temperatures below freezing. it's going to be frosty here. while we have frost we're talking snow in the high sierra. take a look at tahoe today where we had up to 18" of snow accumulate on the north and south shores. and now what we are talking about is more rain on the horizon for us locally. not tomorrow. that's the going pristine with nothing but wall-to-wall sunshine but look at friday. increasing cloud cover and then by nightfall, we have rain moving into the bay area and as that does happen, we have a chance of rain early saturday. and then it remains mostly cloudy so we're going to give you some headlines to work with here. tonight, bundle up. a frosty night ahead. a cold start tomorrow and then, wall-to-wall sunshine with a chance of rain returning by saturday. then again on the holi

anyone who has followed the practices that pg&e has a engaged in i think has reason to be concerned. this is about giving consumers and ratepayers the choice. that is one of the integral pieces and components of community choice aggregation. that is why the board and mayors in the past have been supportive of it, and i hope that's support continues out of room to hundred. i just want to make that note, and i will keep you informed of those conversations. colleagues, any other comments or questions? this is an information item, so madam clerk, if you could please call item 6. >> would you like to continue that matter -- commissioner campos: yes, if we could continue that item to the call of the chair. we continue that item to the call of the chair without objection. >> item 6, study on the voting process, including rent joyce voting joycerank choice -- including rank choice voting for local offices in the city and county. commissioner campos: this is an item requested we put on the agenda as an information item that may perhaps turned into an action item. lafco conducts studies on a n

needs to ask why a single penny of pg&e's proposed costs for replacement, testing and record keeping should be recovered from ratepayer autos today consumer advocates and assemblyman jerry hill criticized the proposal that asks to approve a.$2 billion safety improvement plan. 90% of it covered by rate increases over 50 year was average increase of $1.85 a month for two years but hill says the proposal fails to mention another $3 billion in debt interest and shareholder profits. >> the largest portion of the plan is in fact profits. which means pg&e could in fact profit from the devastating events in san bruno. >> this is a practice that california utilities have been using, you know for a long time. and this is cities allowed to earn a regulated rate of return invested. >> pg&e says it's only asking to pay for future improvements. >> any work we should have done in the past our shareholders are covering the work. we're only asking to cover work required to meet new regulations and laws. >> san bruno's mayor told cpuc his city is concerned about the decision ahead. >> we want the cpuc

. >> pg&e is capping the amount it will pay for reconstruction. "today in the bay's" christie smith joins us live in san bruno where pg&e setting a $70 million limit. >> reporter: good morning. the neighborhood is coming back together. there are signs of construction everywhere you look after the deadly explosion in 2010. but now comes word that pg&e may actually cap the amount that it is willing to fund to help pay for all of this construction here in san bruno. we are expected to learn more today at a press conference being held by san bruno's mayor but this is signaling a real break doub in negle breakdown in negotiations after the pipeline explosion in 2010 that destroyed dozens of homes and damaged countless others and killed eight people. the largest natural gas disaster in united states history. we're told that the utility is setting a $70 million limit on its trust fund to rebuild. right now that's funded to about $12 million. but the mayor is looking at other options and calling a press conference believing that pg&e is now not acting in

to the fact that we do need a smart rid in san francisco that is really a well-design grid, and the pg&e meters are not necessarily the best for that, and that is one issue we have to work on, but part of that could involve a more sophisticated build out of fiber optics to the city. we are hitting a point where this year is the year we need to get on that anyway for a lot of other reasons, public access and democratic access to the internet. i just wanted to flag that before i talk about it at the end of the meeting and the other items, so, thanks. commissioner campos: thank you. is there any other member of the public would like to speak on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. the one thing i like to say, and i would welcome the comments -- i do think that in moving forward, you do have to strike the right balance in making sure you do it in a timely way, but that we are also thoughtful and strategic about how we do this. for the benefit of my colleagues on the commission, one thing that i do plan to do and we will be doing shortly is to set up a meeting with the mayor to