Reassuring: PG&E Pipe Ruptures During Test

This should make Pacific Gas & Electric Company's customers rest a little uneasier.

A segment of pipe that delivers natural gas to the Bay Area -- similar to the pipe that ruptured in San Bruno over a year ago, leading to the fatal explosion and fire -- burst during a test in a remote area near Bakersfield, according to reports.

The busted pipe was on a mile-long segment called Line 300B. The 34-inch pipe, laid down in 1950, burst at its seam, according to reports.

PG&E tests its pipes by filling them with water to about 1.5 times the normal pressure. This is the first tested P&GE pipe to rupture, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

Sixty tests -- called hydrostatic tests -- have been conducted throughout California. The line, 300B, runs from Arizona to Milpitas.