Gas company apologizes for 2010 explosion

SAN BRUNO, California (KTRK) -- A California utility company has kicked off a court-mandated ad campaign, publicly apologizing for its role in the deadly San Bruno gas pipeline explosion in 2010.

PG&E has kicked off a court-mandated ad campaign, publicly apologizing for its role in the deadly San Bruno gas pipeline explosion in 2010.

A federal judge ordered the utility provider to run the ads earlier this year, but city leaders have mixed feelings.

"On Sept. 9, 2010, PG&E learned a tragic lesson we can never forget," a voice says in the ad.

On Thursday, the public service announcement from PG&E started running on television stations, reportedKRON4.

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Last summer, PG&E was found guilty on five federal counts of failing to properly maintain and inspect its gas pipelines.

Earlier this year, a federal judge fined the power provider $3 million and required them to run an ad campaign publicly acknowledging the convictions.

The commercial was created to satisfy that requirement.

"I think PG&E could have gone farther," San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson said.

Jackson has seen the ad.

She said it set the right tone, but she had wished that PG&E had done something like this sooner.

"We are still here six-and-half years later with this advertising, putting PG&E in the position of having to publicly take responsibility," Jackson said. "That should have happened sooner."

But even though PG&E has been convicted in federal court, fined more than $1.5 billion by the state, put under an ethics monitoring program, and forced to run ads, Jackson said that what happened in San Bruno will not be easily forgotten anytime soon.

"To suggest that this will ever be done, ever forgotten, or fully righted is probably more than we can hope for," Jackson said.

PG&E also ran a print campaign with ads in the Wall Street Journal.

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