Compounding the financial fallout from the largest gas leak in U.S. history, the California Public Utilities Commission announced today it has agreed to a $71 million settlement with Southern California Gas Co. over the 2015 Aliso Canyon leak near Porter Ranch that forced thousands of residents from their homes.
The settlement will become effective in 30 days unless a party to the case opts to appeal or a member of the CPUC requests a review.
SoCalGas spokesman Chris Gilbride told City News Service in a statement, “We are pleased to resolve this important matter after almost eight years.”
The Aliso Canyon leak began Oct. 23, 2015, and wasn’t capped until mid-February 2016. Nearly 100,000 tons of methane and other substances were released into the atmosphere over 118 days.
According to the CPUC, the settlement agreement announced Thursday requires SoCalGas to pay $71 million in to the Aliso Canyon Recovery Account, which was created by the state Legislature to address issues arising from the leak, including air quality concerns and public health.
The utility is also barred from attempting to recover costs of the settlement from ratepayers, nor can it bill ratepayers for other financial implications from the leak, including a $1.8 billion civil settlement reached in 2021 to resolve damage claims of more than 35,000 people.
According to the CPUC, any request by SoCalGas for rate increases over the next five years must include an attestation from the company that the hikes will not be used to offset the costs of any of the specified Aliso Canyon-related expenses listed in the settlement. Those expenses include roughly $126 million in government agency settlements, $462 million in costs of housing displaced residents during the leak, $108 million for a study of the leak’s causes and $376 million for attorneys, litigation and other regulatory costs.
In September 2016, SoCalGas pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of failing to immediately report the…
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