ND Regulators Explore Penalties In Gas Explosion

DALE WETZEL

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota utility regulators are looking at possible safety violations by Xcel Energy Inc. after a natural gas explosion demolished a Fargo duplex and injured 13 people.

Kevin Cramer, chairman of the state Public Service Commission, said Monday the agency will formally assign staffers to go over the case and recommend whether the Minneapolis-based utility should be fined following the September 2008 incident.

If sanctions are recommended, Xcel may ask for a hearing to contest them. The three-member commission will itself decide whether to punish Xcel, after reviewing records in the case. It can impose fines of up to $500,000.

The investigation will focus on whether Xcel followed natural gas pipeline safety rules, Cramer said.

"We could find that there was a violation without it having any relationship to the explosion," he said.

The commission scheduled a special meeting Tuesday to discuss the investigation.

A Public Service Commission report, obtained by The Associated Press, says there was a tiny hole and a crack where the plastic pipe that was supplying gas to the duplex joined a pipeline coupler near the building.