PG&E used $183 million it was authorized to collect from ratepayers for the specific replacement of aging natural gas lines for “other operational needs or kept (it) for retained earnings.”

That is what Congresswoman Jackie Speier, D- Hillsborough, was told by the California Public Utilities Commission when she pressed them to account for PG&E pipeline replacement efforts.

That means PG&E ignored the requirements of the state’s watchdog agency to collect and spend money as they were authorized to do so in rate increases. And so the polite wording of the CPUC doesn’t mislead you, “retained earnings” is a nicer way of saying “profits” that financed mega-million dollar bonuses for PG&E top brass after they drove the utility to the brink of bankruptcy. Then after taking PG&E to the edge they were able to get additional rate increases blessed by the CPUC to correct financial missteps on their watch.

It kind of gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling when it comes to the CPUC, doesn’t it? The CPUC board is piled high with former industry executives such as chairman Mike Peevey who was once was president of Southern California Edison. The private owned utility is a kinder Southern California version of PG&E that does manage to perform with a much higher level of competency in terms of reliability of service. Credit that to Edison actually listening to their rank-and-file as opposed to PG&E that often ignores its own workers’ expertise in pursuit of squeezing out as much profit - and mega bonuses - as possible for those in the executive suite.

So just what has the CPUC allowed to happen on their watch while acting more like PG&E lapdogs than watchdogs for the unsuspecting public?

From 1985 to 2000 records show PG&E replaced 2.8 miles on the pipeline that runs from Milpitas to San Francisco and passes through San Bruno. PG&E stopped its work literally a few yards short of where the defective pipe exploded on Sept. 9 killing eight people and wiping out 38 homes. The National Transportation Safety Board’s initial finding shows the pipeline ruptured because of a defective weld.

The $183 million that the CPUC now indicates PG&E more than likely pocketed in profits was supposed to have been spent on pipeline replacement between 1987 and 1999. Had it kept spending the money as they were supposed to do under law in a rate case approved by the CPUC, the odds are the section that had the defective welds would have been replaced.

That means there is a strong possibility eight people are dead today because the CPUC simply wasn’t doing its job in making sure what was promised in return for rate increases were actually delivered.

This is nothing new for the CPUC that acts more like an advocate for the major utilities than as a watchdog for Californians which is why it was established.

Consider the current $1 billion rate increase - the biggest ever submitted by PG&E - that is currently pending before the CPUC.

It has taken outside interests acting on behalf of ratepayers spending hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars to catch things the CPUC should have caught in the rate hike proposal.

Among them is a $6 million mathematical error in PG& favor and the mysterious replacement request for 32,000 power poles that PG&E had years before asked - and obtained - in a rate increase to replace yet the work was never done.

The CPUC needs a wholesale house cleaning. And given that the pro-utility folks such as Peevey are serving until 2014, perhaps Gov. Jerry Brown needs to do what Hiram Johnson did and introduce real reform. That means dismantling the CPUC and replacing it with a true consumer advocacy agency instead of one that believes its primary mission is to assure the maximum profits for power companies they are supposed to regulate for the public good.

California needs a watchdog agency that doesn’t cozy up to the foxes as they slaughter the hens.