Judge Orders PG&E to Advertise Its Felony Criminal Conviction

BAY AREA, CA -- A federal judge has ordered PG&E Co. to conduct a newspaper and television advertising campaign detailing its criminal conviction as part of the sentence in the San Bruno pipeline safety violation case.

U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson also imposed the maximum fine of $3 million for the utility's conviction on six felony counts during the Jan. 26 sentencing.

Henderson also placed PG&E on five years of probation, ordered the establishment of an independent monitor, and required 10,000 hours of community service of PG&E staff, including 2,000 hours from high-level personnel.

Pacific Gas & Electric was found guilty by a jury last August of five counts of violating a pipeline safety law and one count of obstructing an investigation into a fatal pipeline explosion in San Bruno in 2010.

No individuals were charged as a part of the proceeding, and no charges related to the San Bruno explosion itself were ever filed.

The ordered advertising campaign must include full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal and San Francisco Chronicle, plus 12,500 60-second television ads, Judge Henderson said, and must explain PG&E's conviction, its sentence and the steps it has taken to remedy the safety violations.

An agreement on the terms of the ads was reached by PG&E and federal prosecutors the morning of the sentencing, after Henderson indicated on Jan. 24 that he planned to accept prosecutors' request for an
advertising requirement. Henderson accepted that agreement during the sentencing.

PG&E issued a statement after the sentencing, saying that it's committed to a goal of re-earning trust through its actions, and that it has hired gas safety experts to help guide this effort as well as invested billions of shareholder dollars in gas safety improvements.

"We sincerely apologize to the families and friends of those who lost their lives or were injured in this tragic explosion and we want them to know our mission and our commitment to safety will never stop," the statement reads in part. "We will remain forever committed to taking action to meet the high safety standards that our customers, and we, demand and expect.”

Bay City News contributed to this report/Image via Shutterstock