Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Chris Patterson

No. 85 Chris Patterson

PG&E Vice President of State and Local Government Affairs Chris Patterson has a reputation as a highly effective crisis manager and coalition builder, which is a good thing given how often his organization is getting skewered for everything from asking for yet another rate hike to its role in some of the most devastating fires in California history. Oh, and the massive fines and ensuing bankruptcy that followed. And then there are the calls for the utility giant to be taken over by the state or be broken into several smaller entities. In short, it feels like the organization is constantly facing some mega-stressful situation, often of its own making. And somewhere in there someone has to be the point person with lawmakers and the governor, who was once the loudest voice out there for having California take the company over. It’s hard to imagine someone better suited for what is easily one of the most brutal jobs in the game. Love them or hate them, PG&E and Patterson are major players in the Capitol.