Columbia Gas and the Gas Explosion Press Conference

Columbia Gas President Steve Bryant made a crucial mistake during his press conference after the Columbia Gas explosions.  It’s important to take a hard look at his words, as several lessons learned can be gleaned from his botched narrative.

Lack of Empathy Irritates Columbia Gas Customers

One person died as a result of the explosions, 25 people were injured, and thousands more have been displaced from their homes or otherwise negatively impacted.  Yet Mr. Bryant showed a blatant lack of empathy for these people when he said he is “concerned about the inconvenience.”

Um, inconvenience?  I doubt the family of the 18-year-old who lost his life is worried about inconvenience.

This is a small detail that should serve as a warning for other utility executives – please, whatever you do, avoid publicly using the word inconvenience in situations like this.  It represents an understatement of the situation, especially when lives are lost and people are injured.  Understating or downplaying the impact suggests a lack of empathy for the victims, as well as a lack of accountability for the company, which is something that neither customers nor regulators want to hear.

A better approach would have been a stronger emphasis on remorse, especially for those killed or injured, and a detailed step-by-step plan of attack to investigate the disaster, identify the root cause, and put controls in place to prevent or reduce the odds that something like this could happen again.

Mr. Bryant’s ill-conceived effort to apologize has unnecessarily put Columbia Gas in a poor position with customers and regulators.  Let’s hope that Mr. Bryant, as well as other leaders within Columbia Gas and other utilities, do a better job of post-disaster communications in the future.