William D. Johnson (CEO)

Bill Johnson
Born	(1954-01-09) January 9, 1954 Kane, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Lawyer, corporate executive
Years active	1982–2020
Known for	President and CEO of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)

William Dean "Bill" Johnson (born January 9, 1954) is an American lawyer and corporate executive who served as president and CEO of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) until his retirement in June 2020.

Early life

Born on January 9, 1954, Johnson attended Kane Area High School in Kane, Pennsylvania, where he participated in athletics and held the position of class president. He began his higher education as a pre-med student at Pennsylvania State University, where he was a backup center for the Nittany Lions football team during the 1972 and 1973 seasons. Johnson later earned his bachelor's degree in history from Duke University, graduating summa cum laude, and obtained his J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1982.

Career

Following law school, Johnson served as a clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit before becoming a partner at Hunton & Williams in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1995, he joined the predecessor of Progress Energy, Carolina Power & Light, advancing to president by 2005 and then chairman and CEO in 2007. He led Progress Energy until its merger with Duke Energy in 2012.

Although initially expected to assume the CEO role of the combined Duke-Progress company, Johnson was dismissed by the new board—primarily composed of former Duke executives—within an hour after the merger's completion. He reportedly received a severance package totaling $44 million.

Johnson subsequently held the position of president and CEO at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for six years, retiring amid some controversy in April 2019. His successor at TVA was Jeffrey Lyash, formerly of Ontario Power Generation Inc.

On April 3, 2019, Johnson was named president and CEO of PG&E Corporation, succeeding interim CEO John Simon and earning a base salary more than twice that of his predecessor, Geisha Williams. On April 22, 2020, he declared his retirement from PG&E.

During Johnson’s tenure, PG&E addressed major issues stemming from its equipment’s involvement in triggering California’s 2018 Camp Fire. On June 16, 2020, PG&E entered a guilty plea to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter linked to the fire; no criminal charges were brought against individual executives or employees.