BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mary O. McWilliams, executive director of Seattle-based Puget Sound Health Alliance, was recently appointed to the 11-member Puget Sound Energy board of directors and the 10-member board of its parent company, Puget Energy.
McWilliams joins Bill Ayer, chairman of the PSE and Puget Energy boards and chairman, president and chief executive officer of Alaska Air Group, and Herbert Simon, director on the PSE board and a University of Washington regent and member of Tacoma investment firm Johnson Simon LLC, as local representatives of the Bellevue-based boards.
“Mary is a consummate professional with vast leadership experience and knowledge of Washington state’s communities served by PSE,” said Ayer. “Her expertise in health plan operations will also benefit the utility’s 2,800 employees.”
McWilliams said: “I’m proud to serve on the board of Washington state’s largest local energy utility. Puget Sound Energy has a rich history of serving customers and I’m looking forward to working with the other members of the board to build on that tradition.”
As executive director of the Alliance, McWilliams leads a regional and nationally recognized coalition of employers, labor trusts, providers and health plans, working to improve value in health care. PSE has been represented on the Alliance since it was formed in 2004.
Prior to joining the Alliance in 2008, McWilliams was president and CEO of Regence BlueShield. She also has held top executive positions with PacifiCare Health Systems and Providence Health Plans.
McWilliams also serves as chair of the Seattle branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and as a director of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Safe Crossings Foundation. She is a member of Women Corporate Directors and Washington State Women’s Forum. She previously served on the boards of the Port Blakely Companies, Frank Russell Trust Company, Gardenburger, Puget Sound Health Alliance, Washington HealthCare Forum, Seattle Symphony and PONCHO. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut, whom she also served as a trustee for 15 years.
About Puget Sound Energy
Washington state’s oldest local energy utility, Puget Sound Energy serves more than 1 million electric customers and 750,000 natural gas customers in 11 counties. A subsidiary of Puget Energy, PSE meets the energy needs of its customer base through incremental, cost-effective energy efficiency, procurement of sustainable energy resources, and far-sighted investment in the energy-delivery infrastructure. PSE employees are dedicated to providing great customer service and delivering energy that is safe, reliable, reasonably priced, and environmentally responsible. For more information, visit www.PSE.com.