After years of upheaval, criminal charges and bankruptcy, California utility giant PG&E Corp. has placed its fate in the hands of a new chief executive with a record of reducing accidents, cutting costs and building bridges, Bloomberg News reported. Patricia K. Poppe, a General Motors Co. veteran who now runs the Michigan utility CMS Energy Corp., will be PG&E’s fourth leader in the past two years, taking over on Jan. 4., the company said yesterday. Not only must she reform a sprawling enterprise that’s been found responsible for sparking numerous deadly wildfires, she has to regain the trust of the public and government officials including Governor Gavin Newsom, who had threatened to take over the company if it didn’t correct its “culture of ineptitude.” And she has to do it while cutting $1 billion in costs. PG&E, which serves about 16 million people in Northern and Central California, emerged from chapter 11 in July after settling wildfire claims from individual victims, insurers and public agencies for $25.5 billion. The company’s last permanent CEO, Bill Johnson, retired at the end of June after steering the company through chapter 11.
