Oakland officials gave some expected statements of appreciation for the corporation making the move across the Bay, even though PG&E has been nothing but toxic from a PR and human decency perspective for decades. Johnson announced his retirement plans in April, effective this month, saying, "As we look to PG&E’s next chapter, this great company should be led by someone who has the time and career trajectory ahead of them to ensure that it fulfills its promise to reimagine itself as a new utility and deliver the safe and reliable service that its customers and communities expect and deserve." The move is set to begin in 2022, as KPIX reports, long after Johnson and a number of other PG&E board members are long gone. Savings from lower headquarters costs will tangibly benefit our customers financially." In a statement, CEO Bill Johnson said, "Our new Oakland headquarters will be significantly more cost-effective, is better suited to the needs of our business, and is a critical part of fulfilling our commitment to operate in a fiscally responsible way that will enable us to achieve our operational and safety goals. As Curbed reported back in January, while the company was wending its way through a complex bankruptcy process, the buildings could be worth around $1 billion - though their value after the pandemic has cast uncertainty over the value of office space may no longer be quite so high, as the Chronicle notes. PG&E's longtime headquarters encompasses two addresses: a circa-1925 building at 245 Market Street, and a second, attached building at 77 Beale Street. 300 Lakeside Drive, in Oakland, as soon as BART relocates its headquarters to offices nearby. In so doing, the utility has plans to move to the 28-story Kaiser Center office tower, a.k.a. The company that began as San Francisco Gas Company in 1852, incorporating at PG&E in 1905, is in the process of both trying to emerge from bankruptcy and reinventing itself as a more responsible corporation whose equipment doesn't spark deadly wildfires every fall. After being headquartered in San Francisco for over 115 years, Pacific Gas & Electric will be selling its prominent building on Market Street and relocating to Oakland.
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