For the first time under a new law, state utility regulators have been asked to consider imposing penalties on the drilling company involved in last summer’s fatal Sun Prairie natural gas explosion.
A panel charged with policing utility notification laws last week sent the Public Service Commission a case based on a complaint filed by USIC Locating Services, the company that was hired to mark the locations of underground pipes prior to the explosion, which killed a firefighter and injured others.
USIC claims drilling company VC Tech violated state law when owner Valentin Cociuba failed to notify the state utility call center, known as Diggers Hotline, before starting work on July 10.