Pacific Gas & Electric Co. says the company will likely face federal criminal charges for its role in a fatal gas pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area.

PG&E Corp. and its subsidiary filed a disclosure document Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission reporting that they expect the federal government will bring criminal charges against the utility in connection with the Sept. 9, 2010, explosion of its transmission pipeline in San Bruno.

The blast killed eight people, injured dozens of others and sparked a fireball that laid waste to 38 homes in the bedroom community that still bears scars from the accident.

The company says it has been in discussions with the U.S. attorney's office to reach a resolution, but it now expects federal prosecutors will charge that PG&E's past operating practices violated numerous federal Pipeline Safety Act requirements.