With a Focus on Safety and Customers, PG&E Names New Leaders In Electric Operations, and Gas and Electric Engineering

By: Pacific Gas and Electric Company via Business Wire

July 01, 2022 at 18:00 PM EDT

Janisse Quiñones, Christine Cowsert Chapman and Martin Wyspianski are ‘Emblematic of the New PG&E,’ Says CEO Patti Poppe

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced today that it has named new leaders for its Electric Operations, Gas Engineering and Electric Engineering organizations. Janisse Quiñones, Christine Cowsert Chapman and Martin Wyspianski will help continue to transform PG&E’s electric and gas systems with a focus on safety, reliability and readiness for California’s changing energy landscape in the years ahead.

“Janisse, Christine and Martin are emblematic of the new PG&E. These talented leaders are trained engineers who live and breathe safety and carry an unwavering focus on our customers and the hometowns that we’re privileged to serve. We are continuing to benefit from a strong bench of high-quality leaders with deep operational expertise to deliver results on behalf of our customers,” said Patti Poppe, PG&E Corporation CEO.

Janisse Quiñones

Quiñones, currently PG&E’s Senior Vice President, Gas Engineering, will become Senior Vice President, Electric Operations. Quiñones, who joined PG&E last year, has more than two decades in the utility industry, including roles of increasing responsibility in electric and gas distribution, wildfire mitigation, vegetation management, emergency management, maps and records, gas engineering, customer service, and energy efficiency programs.

Quiñones has proven leadership capabilities as she is also a Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves, serving as Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer supporting FEMA Region 9, which oversees federal emergency management for 150 tribal nations and nine states and territories, including California. She was deployed in support of Deepwater Horizon, Hurricane Maria, and Operation Allies Welcome operations.

Quiñones was pivotal in the electric grid restoration and rebuilding for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, where she led distribution and transmission line crews directly responsible for energizing a significant portion of the island.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Quiñones attended the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Campus, where she graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering (Magna Cum Laude). She holds advanced degrees in Business Administration and International Relations, is a licensed Professional Engineer in five states (MA, RI, TX, NY, CA), and has extensive experience in California, having spent almost 10 years working in the state’s utility sector.

Janisse will succeed Wade Smith who is leaving PG&E for an expanded role at another West Coast utility.

Christine Cowsert Chapman

Cowsert Chapman, currently Vice President, Electric Engineering, Asset and Regulatory, will succeed Quiñones and become Senior Vice President, Gas Engineering. Cowsert Chapman has been with PG&E for more than 20 years, most of that in Gas Operations and Engineering where she led teams responsible for asset and risk management, engineering, operations, gas control, regulatory strategy, compliance and innovation.

Cowsert Chapman has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a master's degree in business administration from the University of California, Berkeley and is a registered engineer in California.

Martin Wyspianski

Martin Wyspianski, currently Senior Director, Electric & Gas Acquisition, will succeed Cowsert Chapman and become Vice President, Electric Engineering, Asset and Regulatory. A PG&E veteran with 16 years at the company, Wyspianski led the company’s Renewables Portfolio Standard team as the Senior Director for Energy Portfolio Procurement and Policy. Wyspianski has significant experience in risk management, having previously led the company’s enterprise risk management and market and credit risk management teams. In addition, he has significant project and contract management experience, having successfully managed multi-billion-dollar annual portfolios as a steward of customer dollars. Wyspianski previously led the PG&E grid innovation team, including interim and permanent grid alternatives to improve resiliency during wildfire season.

Wyspianski has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Brown University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

These changes will be effective July 11, 2022.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.