Mercury News: State legislation that might inoculate PG&E and other utility monopolies from an array of liabilities in the wake of disasters such as a fatal gas explosion in San Bruno or a lethal inferno in the North Bay Wine Country gained an initial approval Tuesday — but only after a torrent of critics forced its author to vow to modify the proposed law. Sen. Hill, however, voted against the legislation because he believes no tinkering will remove the flaws that could degrade safety, shelter utility monopolies and enable rate increases to occur more readily.