Uncertainty roils embattled PG&E
Leadership: CEO abruptly steps down
Geisha Williams, the PG&E Corp. chief executive who led California’s largest investorowned utility during some of the most turbulent times in its history, has stepped down, the company said Sunday evening.
Williams had been at the helm of the San Francisco energy company for less than two years. John Simon, who had previously been PG&E’s executive vice president and general counsel, will succeed her on an interim basis while the board of directors searches for a long-term replacement.
Williams has already resigned
from the boards of PG&E Corp. and its utility subsidiary Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
The abrupt departure of Williams, who became CEO in March 2017, comes as the embattled San Francisco energy company has signaled it may soon file for bankruptcy protection because of the extreme financial toll it’s facing after two seasons of historically devastating California wildfires.
State authorities have found PG&E equipment sparked 17 of the fires that ravaged Northern California in October 2017. And the utility may still be found responsible one or both of the two most destructive wildfires in state history: the 2017 Tubbs Fire in and around Santa Rosa, and last year’s Camp Fire in Butte County.
The wildfires have led to mounting legal, regulatory and political challenges for the Northern California utility. PG&E Corp.’s stock price has plunged 64 percent from where it opened Nov. 8, the day the Camp Fire started.
In a statement announcing Williams’ departure from the company, PG&E Corp. board Chairman Richard Kelly thanked her for “her service and her tireless commitment to our employees and the 16 million Californians we serve.” But he also acknowledged the difficulties the company faces.
“While we are making progress as a company in safety and other areas, the board recognizes the tremendous challenges PG&E continues to face,” Kelly said. “We believe John is the right interim leader for the company while we work to identify a new CEO. Our search is focused on extensive operational and safety expertise, and the board is committed to further change at PG&E.”
Williams had acted like she planned to stay in her position longer, said Tom Dalzell, business manager of IBEW Local 1245. The union represents 12,000 PG&E employees, more than half the company’s workforce.
“Up through this week, she was fully committed to seeing the crisis through, to emerging from the crisis as a strong PG&E,” Dalzell said. “There were no signs that she was intending to step down. I was surprised.”
State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, a longtime critic of PG&E, had a different view.
“The only surprise is that it has taken them so long,” Hill said. “The real issue is that it has taken them so long to realize that the problem is at the top and that a change is necessary.”
Williams joined PG&E in 2007 and has more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector, according to the company. Before she was promoted to CEO in 2017, Williams was president of the electric side of the utility’s business. She was an executive at Florida Power & Light Co. before she joined PG&E.
Born in Cuba, Williams was PG&E’s first female CEO and the first Latina CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
PG&E has not disclosed the details of any exit package for Williams. But according to an annual report to PG&E Corp. shareholders from last year, she was eligible for different payments based on the circumstances of her departure.
The total compensation could range from $3.1 million to $7.4 million to more than $10 million depending on whether she was terminated for cause, resigned or retired, or was terminated without cause. The latter two figures include more than $3 million from the value of stock awards and are based on a much higher stock price than where PG&E Corp. currently trades.
Simon, Williams’ interim successor, also joined PG&E in 2007. Before becoming general counsel, he held several senior leadership roles within the company, including in corporate services and human resources.
In an email to company employees Sunday, Simon said Williams had demonstrated “unwavering commitment to our employees, the customers we serve and California’s bold clean energy goals” in her time at PG&E. Like Kelly, however, he acknowledged the difficulty of PG&E’s current situation.
“Over the past month, we have had a significant amount of news and increasing challenges as a company that have affected all of us,” Simon said in the email, which was obtained by The Chronicle. “No doubt this change in leadership may increase your feelings of stress and uncertainty .... the board and senior management team have been working diligently on a path forward for the company.”
Williams’ departure was hailed by Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network consumer group, as “a very good sign that housecleaning has started” at PG&E amid the wildfire fallout and more recent allegations from regulatory staff that the company repeatedly falsified certain gas pipeline safety records.
“Geisha Williams’ departure signals that PG&E is coming to terms with the fact that its management has been unsuccessful and unable to comply with basic safety regulations — even unable to comply with telling the truth and not falsifying records,” Toney said. “It’s a first step, but a whole lot more needs to be done to get PG&E back on track.”
Those comments were echoed by state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, who spearheaded legislation last year that will help PG&E handle its 2017 wildfire-related costs. After the gas pipeline records allegations arose publicly, Dodd called for “systemic change” in PG&E leadership — and while he cast Williams leaving the company as a good thing, he said the shakeup shouldn’t stop there.
“I appreciate the board acting, but I frankly think there needs to be some movement on that board of directors as well,” Dodd said.