Class-Action Lawsuit Against PG&E Aims to Return Money to All Customers

A San Bruno woman and a San Rafael man filed a class-action lawsuit today against PG&E for the 2010 pipeline explosion in San Bruno, claiming that the utility diverted millions of dollars of ratepayer money that was supposed to be spent on pipeline safety.

In the lawsuit, which was filed in San Francisco Superior Court, the plaintiffs, who are PG&E customers, allege that the utility collected more than $100 million in fees—authorized by the California Public Utilties Commision—from customers throughout the state with the promise that the money would be spent on gas safety and operations projects.

But after collecting the fees, PG&E repeatedly failed to spend the money and instead used the funds toward executive compensation and bonuses.

“This class action is brought to remedy the unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practices by PG&E,” Brian Kabateck, the lead lawyer in the case, said in a statement.  “PG&E put lives at risk because of its actions and we intend to hold the company responsible for them.  We want to prevent another incident like San Bruno.”

The class-action suit, filed on behalf of Filomena Guerrero, of San Bruno, and Theodore Kagan, of San Rafael, calls for a jury trial and demands restitution for all California and San Bruno residents who were PG&E customers from 1997 to 2010.

PG&E serves about 4 million customers throughout the state.

This lawsuit follows on the heels of hundreds of other lawsuits that were filed against PG&E shortly after the San Bruno fire, which left eight people dead and 38 homes destroyed.

The trial for those lawsuits, which now represent more than 300 residents, is scheduled to begin on Oct. 9.

PG&E has already reached a number of confidential settlements with residents who were affected by the disaster, including all of the families whose relatives died in the fire.