PG&E Bright Minds Scholarship Program

 

Program Information

The application must be submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, February 17, 2012.

Guidelines

Pacific Gas and Electric Company and The PG&E Corporation Foundation (collectively, "PG&E") are offering up to $1,000,000 in PG&E Bright Minds Scholarships for undergraduate study to students who live in the PG&E service territory.

The program is administered by Scholarship Management Services, a division of Scholarship America. Scholarship Management Services is the largest U.S. designer and manager of scholarship and tuition reimbursement programs for corporations, foundations, associations and individuals.

Before beginning the application process and to better understand the PG&E Bright Minds Scholarship Program, please read the following guidelines and instructions. Print this information and keep on file for reference of program procedures and important dates.

Who is eligible?

Applicants must meet all of the following criteria:

• Be a minimum of 16 years of age and be a high school senior or graduate, have received GED certification or be a current post-secondary undergraduate student.
• Live within one of the counties listed on the attachment hereto.
• Plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate study at an accredited two-year or four-year college, university or vocational-technical school for the entire 2012-2013 academic year.

NOTE: Nontraditional students who are returning to school or planning to pursue a postsecondary education for the first time are eligible and encouraged to apply.

How do I apply?

Only online applications via this website will be accepted.

h/t T. Ellington

PGE's December 2011 Hunters Point Shipyard Progress Report

You may have already gotten this in the mail, but in case you didn't:

Yee’s Pipeline Safety Bill Unanimously Approved by Assembly

Legislation would Require Automatic and Remotely-Controlled Shutoff Valves Throughout Gas Pipeline System

SACRAMENTO – Today, the California Assembly unanimously approved legislation authored by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) to require PG&E and other gas utility companies to install automatic and remotely-controlled shutoff valves throughout California’s pipelines.

The gas pipeline that exploded on September 9, 2010 in San Bruno was only equipped with manual shutoff valves and without a technician in the vicinity, the inferno continued for hours, killing 8 people and destroying 38 homes.

Yee’s SB 216 would require installation of automatic or remotely-controlled valves on all pipelines that cross an active seismic earthquake fault or are located within a High Consequence Area. Under SB 216, automatic or remotely-controlled shutoff valves would be required every 2.5 miles in the highest density areas (Class 4); every 4 miles in medium density areas (Class 3); every 7.5 miles in low density areas (Class 2), and every 10 miles in extremely low density areas (Class 1). Currently, federal regulations only require manual shutoff valves in these locations.

At probe's end, San Bruno pipe's origin is unknown - SFGate

Some PG&E pipeline questions answered

Last month, there was some discussion in the Chronicle and on our local Yahoo Groups about what lies beneath our feet. Emily Salgado in Senator Yee’s office picked up our email thread and has been working diligently on getting some answers from PG&E. Below is the email she sent to me, and that I hope she doesn’t mind me forwarding on to everyone concerned. This is a link to the pipeline map, which PG&E has de-color coded since last month.

Ms Salgado writes,

“Here is what I’ve been able to clarify from the CPUC.

1) The orange area on map indicates HCA’s under review. Is the line running at reduced pressure or no? If not, why?

Yes, the three transmission lines running into San Francisco are all being run at reduced pressure that is at least 20% below the maximum operating pressure. Immediately after the San Bruno explosion, the Executive Director of the CPUC directed PG&E to immediately reduce pressure on the remaining portions of the pipeline that ran through San Bruno (Line 132) by 20% of the operating pressure. The CPUC also ordered PG&E to reduce pressure on the other two transmission lines that run up the peninsula to San Francisco (Lines 101 and 109) because those lines have similar characteristics as Line 132.

The portion of the transmission line 109 that runs into the City of San Francisco was already operating at a pressure below 80% of its maximum allowable pressure so the pressure did not need to be reduced further. For a point of reference, the portions of the pipelines outside of San Francisco were reduced from 375-400 psi to 300 psi, where the pipeline in San Francisco was already operating at 200 to 250 psi.

2) Please clarify the green line, which according to the map means “pipelines in HCA’s w/ pressure test records…”
a. Does this mean the line in that area is safe, will not be under review, will be under review, will be reduced, or not?? Etc.

After the explosion in San Bruno it became apparent that PG&E did not have accurate records for its transmission pipeline system and could not fully justify the maximum allowable operating pressure on some pipelines. The CPUC ordered PG&E to do an extensive record search, and for pipelines where they have no records of the pipe ever being pressure tested to verify maximum operating pressure, PG&E will need to conduct the pressure test or replace the pipelines.

On June 9, 2011, the CPUC ordered all gas transmission operators to test or replace pipelines not previously tested. At the completion of the period, all of California natural gas transmission pipelines must, (1) be pressure tested, (2) have traceable, verifiable, and complete records, and (3) where warranted, be capable of accommodating in-line inspection devices.

The green color on the maps you reviewed do not indicate that the pipeline is “safe” or not safe. The line was an attempt by PG&E to show the segments where they have located the appropriated records. The non-green sections are still being reviewed to locate records or need to be pressure tested.

As mentioned, I am trying to ascertain when the CPUC mandated test or replace untested lines period ends or if there is an end date in mind. We know it has to be somewhat flexible but I will check in with the CPUC.”

A great many thanks to Senator Yee’s office and to Ms Salgado in particular in digging up this information and keeping us all in the loop.

PG&E Lines in our Backyards

PG&E Pipeline Map

PG&E recently sent out to residents in District 10 an informational flier regarding high-pressure natural gas pipelines running beneath our feet.

More information can be found on the PG&E website.

The good news that I get from this is that PG&E has documentation on the section of the line that literally runs through my backyard AND they're planning to do high-pressure water testing of the line sometime this year.  Of course, the fact that they HAVE the documentation doesn't mean the pipe is in good shape.

The bad news is that the reason they're pressure-testing this line is that it's of the same vintage as the pipeline that blew up in San Bruno last year.

An article in Sunday's SFGate paints a grim picture:

A Pacific Gas and Electric Co. gas pipeline running up the Peninsula into San Francisco has a long history of cracked and poorly constructed welds and even exploded once - but it's not the one that blew up in San Bruno last year.

The pipeline is known as Line 109, and it failed disastrously in 1963 in the Bernal Heights neighborhood in San Francisco. The blast injured nine firefighters and led to the heart-attack death of a battalion chief.

Documents contained in a mountain of just-released PG&E paperwork show that over the years, the company has found flawed welds up and down the 50-mile line. But there is no evidence in the records that in all that time, the company ever revealed the problems to state regulators.

Read more at SFGate

What bothers me the most is that within San Francisco, the color-coding on the map indicates that the pipeline that is set to be tested is still being used at full pressure, while the pipeline that runs south of Geneva Ave into San Mateo Co. is being run at reduced pressure.  The entire line is of the same vintage as the one in San Bruno that blew up last year, so why has the pressure only been reduced on part of line, and importantly for those of us in Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, Bayview, Silver Terrace, The Portola, and Visitacion Valley, and NOT on our section within San Francisco County?

Earth Day protest: Clean up this mess

From Salon.com,

To residents of one predominantly black neighborhood, environmental issues mean how, and how long, they live

Earth Day may have devolved from a spontaneous outburst of benevolence toward nature to a green marketing opportunity in its 40-year history, but for a group of activists and residents of contaminated areas in San Francisco, the day has retained its value. Standing outside the Pacific Gas & Electric headquarters this week, residents of Bayview-Hunters Point, a predominantly African-American section in southeast San Francisco, and activists from the group Greenaction chanted for clean air.

For 25 years, residents of the area fought for the closure of a polluting PG&E power plant. They finally got what they wanted in 2006, but they say the damage had been done, the cleanup has been ineffective, and the effects have lingered.

PG&E's Line 109 also seen as posing safety risks

From SFGate,

The other pipeline that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has long relied on to deliver natural gas up the Peninsula has problems similar to the ruptured line in San Bruno - flawed or missing records and at-risk welds, including 80-year-old technology recognized as prone to earthquake failures, The Chronicle has learned.

Like PG&E transmission Line 132 - the pipe that ruptured and exploded in San Bruno on Sept. 9 - Line 109 runs from Milpitas through the South Bay and Peninsula and up to San Francisco, where it terminates in the Dogpatch neighborhood.

Read more at SFGate

PG&E, A. Philip Randolph Institute and The San Francisco Housing Authority Team Up To Fight Hunger During The Holidays

Fourth Annual Turkey Giveaway Slated for Bayview-Hunter’s Point Community, Tuesday, November 23rd, from 11AM - 3:30PM (See the 94124 Community Calendar for times and locations).

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) will partner with the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) and San Francisco Housing Authority to give away more than 700 turkey baskets, with a complete Thanksgiving meal, at Hunter’s View, Hunter’s Point and Alice Griffith housing developments in the Bayview- Hunter’s Point community.

Each turkey basket will contain a 10-12 pound turkey; two loaves of bread; a three-pound bag of rice; one can of cranberry sauce; and two cans each of corn, greens, mixed vegetables and yams.

The project is part of PG&E’s commitment to the Bayview-Hunter’s Point community where PG&E is cleaning up the site of the former Hunter’s Point Power Plant.

PG&E Pipelines Through D10 - SFBG

I hope this gets some people talking tonight at the League of Women Voter's Debate.

SFBG: PG&E's secret pipeline map

The utility won't release its pipeline locations — even to the Fire Department

It's been nearly two weeks since the pipeline in San Bruno exploded and killed four people, injuring many more and destroying 37 homes. And it's left a lot of people in San Francisco wondering: could it happen here?

Of course it could. PG&E has more than 200 miles of major gas pipelines under the city streets that are scheduled to be replaced — and that means they're reaching the end of their useful life. Just like the pipe that blew up in San Bruno.


Read more at SFBG...