
293Development Trials on Large-Scale Equipment
On September 9, 2010, the Pacic Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) was
performing maintenance on an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) at one
of its natural gas terminals in California. The UPS failed and power was
lost to critical control systems that governed gas distribution within the net-
work. This caused a regulator valve to open, sending a pressure spike down
a 30in. diameter pipeline. Immediately afterwards, the line burst in a resi-
dential section of San Bruno, killing 8 people and destroying 40 homes.
A subsequent National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation
indicated that the ...