PG&E overhauls its board as part of bankruptcy promise

Pacific Gas and Electric announced last week the latest overhaul of its board of directors in another step toward the nation’s largest utility ending its bankruptcy.

The board includes 11 new directors who will oversee the decisions made by PG&E management, as part of an agreement the company made with the state to shake up a corporate culture that has emphasized shareholder profits over the safety of the 16 million people who rely on it for power. The board overhaul comes a month after PG&E President Bill Johnson, the former chief executive for the Tennessee Valley Authority, announced he is stepping down on June 30 after only 14 months on the job.

Neglect of the utility’s aging electrical grid allowed it to fall into disrepair, igniting catastrophic wildfires that killed more than 100 people and destroyed more than 27,000 homes and other buildings in 2017 and 2018. PG&E couldn’t afford to pay for damages the, prompting the company to file for bankruptcy early last year.

Only three members will remain Johnson steps down at the end of the month. That’s also the date PG&E is aiming to get out of bankruptcy so it can qualify for coverage from a wildfire insurance fund created by the state.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali has promised to rule on PG&E’s $58 billion reorganization plan by then.

The 11 new board members include a mix of people with experience in utilities, technology and emergency management. Those qualifications may help PG&E adopt more stringent safety measures and do a better job managing and communicating its planned blackouts to prevent more wildfires in the next few years.

The new directors with utility experience include Mike Niggli, the former chief operating officer for the corporate parent of San Diego Gas & Electric, which has a better safety track record than PG&E; former Federal Emergency Management Association Agency administrator Craig Fugate; and longtime Silicon Valley executive Jessica Denecour.

PG&E’s board will be in charge of picking Johnson’s permanent replacement as CEO.

“Putting in place a new board is a critical component of PG&E’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy as a re-imagined utility,” said the company’s chairman, Nora Mead Brownell, who is among the departing directors.