New PG&E CEO will be paid $2.5M per year

Three-year deal includes one-time transition payment of $3 million

PG&E’s new chief executive officer will receive a base salary of $2.5 million a year, according to a new regulatory filing on Tuesday.

William “Bill” Johnson was formally appointed on April 10 to become the new CEO of the company, which has been plodding through a bankruptcy proceeding as it wrestles with financial calamities linked to wildfire-related liabilities and debts.

Johnson will receive an annual base salary of $2.5 million along with a onetime transition payment of $3 million on the first day of his employment, according to documents that PG&E filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Johnson, until recently the chief executive officer of the Tennessee Valley Authority, has agreed to head PG&E for at least three years, the regulatory documents revealed. Johnson, 65, headed the TVA for six years.

In addition to the base salary, Johnson is also poised to receive a stock-based pay package that could be worth several million more dollars.

“Mr. Johnson will receive an annual equity award with a target value of $3.5 million,” PG&E said in the regulatory filing.

San Francisco-based PG&E stated that 25 percent of the stock-based package would consist of restricted stock units to be paid out on the three anniversaries of the first day of Johnson’s employment.

The remaining 75 percent would consist of restricted stock units that are based on performance.

The company stated that safety metrics would have 65 percent of the weight for determining Johnson’s performance, while 25 percent of the weighting would be based on PG&E’s financial performance and 10 percent would be based on customer satisfaction.

PG&E toppled into bankruptcy on Jan. 29, listing $51.69 billion in debts, hoping to ward off a forbidding mountain of liabilities and wildfire-linked claims following lethal infernos in Northern California in 2015, 2017 and 2018 that were caused by, or directly associated with, PG&E’s equipment.

Separately, PG&E is a convicted felon for crimes it committed before and after a fatal explosion in San Bruno that killed eight people.

“The terms and conditions of Mr. Johnson’s compensation arrangements are subject to the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court,” PG&E stated in the regulatory filing.