Media contact: 360-664-1116 or media@utc.wa.gov
Docket number: PG-150120
Editor’s note: This news release reflects the position of Pipeline Safety staff of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission and NOT the views of the commissioners. It discusses a staff investigation that the commissioners have not yet reviewed. Any positions taken or comments offered by staff regarding this proceeding should be attributed clearly to UTC staff and NOT to the UTC.
LACEY, Wash. – Staff at the Utilities and Transportation Commission are recommending that $1 million in previously suspended penalties now be imposed against Cascade Natural Gas (Cascade). The recommendation is based on Cascade’s failure to meet the terms of a prior settlement agreement and order with the UTC.
Staff allege that Cascade violated the terms of an agreement approved by the commission in 2018. The commission agreed to suspend $1 million in penalties on the condition that Cascade implement a plan to validate the maximum allowable operating pressure for all their pipelines operating above 60 pounds per square inch gauge. The plan also required Cascade to conduct quarterly leak surveys over its transmission pipelines until validation of those pipelines was complete. This validation work includes pressure testing existing pipelines to ensure they can safely operate at their intended pressure levels.
In March 2024, Cascade reported they had discovered a leak in a transmission pipeline in Skagit County following a failed pressure test in June 2023. Cascade was initially unable to locate the leak despite conducting six leak surveys. A staff investigation found that Cascade’s leak surveys were conducted in the wrong location due to inaccuracies in the company’s GIS mapping. As a result, the leak continued for an unknown amount of time. Cascade repaired the pipeline segment and returned it to service in May 2024.
Staff filed a motion against Cascade recommending that the previously suspended $1 million penalty be enforced. The commission is not bound by staff’s recommendation.
In addition to recognizing violations of Washington laws and rules, the goal of the staff investigation and recommended penalty is to ensure public health, safety, and environmental quality.
Kennewick-based Cascade Natural Gas Corporation serves more than 222,000 residential and business customers in 67 communities throughout Washington state, including Aberdeen, Bellingham, Bremerton, Kennewick, Longview, Moses Lake, Mount Vernon, Sunnyside, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, and Yakima.
The UTC regulates the rates and services of telecommunications companies, investor-owned electric utilities, natural gas and water companies, garbage-collection haulers, household-goods movers and passenger transportation companies, commercial ferries, pipeline companies, marine pilotage, and a low-level radioactive waste repository. The commission does not regulate the rates of broadband services, cellular, cable, or Internet service.
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Editor’s note: You can find the staff investigation and all documents related to this case on our website.
