SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As part of a leadership succession plan, the Board of Directors of PG&E Corporation today elected Geisha Williams, 55, as Chief Executive Officer and President of PG&E Corporation. Williams is currently President, Electric of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, PG&E Corporation’s utility subsidiary.
Tony Earley, Jr., 67, currently Chairman, CEO and President of PG&E Corporation, was elected to serve as Executive Chair of the PG&E Corporation Board of Directors. In addition, Nickolas (“Nick”) Stavropoulos, 58, currently President, Gas of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, was elected to serve as President and Chief Operating Officer of Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
The new roles are effective March 1, 2017. The currently separate roles of president for the gas and electric businesses are being consolidated into the single utility president role that will be held by Stavropoulos.
“Tony Earley has been a strong hand at the helm over the past five years and his deep industry experience has been invaluable to us as he guided PG&E to the goal of becoming a top industry performer. Under his leadership, PG&E implemented an integrated, risk-based planning process that provided a road map for making PG&E a safer, stronger energy company through a robust capital investment program, widespread process improvements and by instilling a strong safety culture. Tony also invested in PG&E’s human capital, attracting strong leaders to join and stay with PG&E and mentoring Geisha Williams and Nick Stavropoulos. Geisha and Nick are both exceptionally talented executives and we are pleased that they will carry on the work that Tony advanced so successfully,” said Barry Lawson Williams, independent lead director of the PG&E Corporation Board.
Earley said, “I am very pleased with the decisions of the Boards of Directors to move forward with this planned succession. Geisha has demonstrated the performance and strategic vision to lead this organization into the future. She has a long track record of success with PG&E and in the industry. Under her leadership, PG&E has driven record-setting improvements in electric reliability year-over-year by transforming our electric grid with smart technology and by implementing an industry leading emergency response capability. As a result of these investments, Geisha's team restored power with record speed when an earthquake hit Napa in 2014. Geisha also understands the enormous changes that will be affecting our industry in the years ahead and has a vision for navigating these changes successfully. Nick, who will serve as President and COO of the utility, has successfully led a multi-billion-dollar investment in the safety of our gas system and strengthened PG&E’s safety culture, the success of which has earned the utility international recognition. Geisha and Nick both have the vision, operational focus and commitment to collaboration that will serve our customers, communities, employees and shareholders well. Above all, they have a shared and unequivocal commitment to the safety of the public and our employees and contractors.”
Ms. Williams said, “I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the extraordinary 23,000 employees of PG&E and to support their efforts to safely serve 16 million Californians. We are in a period of tremendous and accelerating change in our industry, driven by technology, competitive forces and public policy objectives around clean energy. We are well positioned for these changes and well positioned for growth with substantial infrastructure investments focused on continuing to enhance the safety and reliability of our system while enabling California’s clean energy economy.”
Stavropoulos said, “We set out five years ago to become the safest and most reliable energy company in America and we have made incredible progress toward that goal. When it comes to safety, the job is never done. I am absolutely committed to continuing this journey and to supporting the efforts of PG&E’s team members while achieving new levels of operational excellence and efficiency across the organization in order to provide safe, reliable, affordable and clean energy to our customers.”
Earley joined PG&E Corporation in September 2011 after 17 years with DTE Energy. When he left DTE, he was serving as Executive Chairman. He had previously served as Chairman, CEO and President of DTE. Prior to joining DTE Energy, Earley served in various capacities at Long Island Lighting Company, including President and Chief Operating Officer. Previously, he was a partner at the Hunton & Williams law firm. In Earley’s new capacity as Executive Chair of the Board of PG&E Corporation, he will continue as an employee of the company, providing counsel to senior management and supporting the leadership transition in addition to continuing to serve on the Board.
Ms. Williams joined Pacific Gas and Electric Company in 2007 and was named Executive Vice President, Electric Operations in 2011. She was named President, Electric and a member of Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Board in 2015. In addition to her previous responsibilities for all non-nuclear electric operations, Williams took on additional responsibility for the enterprise-wide Customer Care organization and the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant when she was named President, Electric.
Before joining Pacific Gas and Electric Company, she held officer-level positions leading electric distribution, as well as a variety of positions of increasing responsibility in customer service, marketing, external affairs and electric operations at Florida Power and Light Company, the third-largest electric utility in the United States, serving more than 4.8 million customer accounts or more than 10 million people across nearly half of the state of Florida.
Williams holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Miami and a master's degree in business administration from Nova Southeastern University. A trustee of the California Academy of Sciences, Williams also serves as the board chair for the Center for Energy and Workforce Development, and as a director at the Edison Electric Institute, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies. In addition, she is active in Executive Women in Energy and the University of Miami President's Council.
Stavropoulos joined Pacific Gas and Electric Company in 2011 as Executive Vice President, Gas Operations. He was named President, Gas and a member of Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Board in 2015, at which time, in addition to his previous responsibility for gas operations, he took on responsibility for enterprise-wide Information Technology, physical and cyber-security, safety, health and environmental, supply chain, and the transportation and real estate organizations. Before joining Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Stavropoulos was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Gas Distribution for National Grid, an electricity and natural gas delivery company serving nearly 7 million customers in the northeast United States. Earlier, Stavropoulos was President of KeySpan Energy Delivery and held a number of other leadership roles with KeySpan’s predecessor companies, Colonial Gas and Boston Gas.
Stavropoulos holds a bachelor of science degree in accounting from Bentley College and an MBA from Babson College. He serves on the board of Bentley University and has served on numerous public and not-for-profit boards.
About PG&E Corporation
PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) is a Fortune 200 energy-based holding company headquartered in San Francisco. It is the parent company of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, California’s largest investor-owned utility. PG&E serves nearly 16 million Californians across a 70,000-square-mile service area in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pgecorp.com and www.pge.com.
