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  5. Board Members

Board Members

The California Wildfire Safety Advisory Board consists of seven independent experts appointed by the Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, and Senate Committee on Rules, to advise and make recommendations to the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety and Electric Publicly-Owned Utilities and Cooperatives. The Board is supported by two capable advisors.

California Wildfire Safety Advisory Board logo

Jessica Block

Chair, WIFIRE Lab Associate Director – Fire behavior, risk modeling, vegetation management & ecology, data governance, Board management.

Ralph M. Armstrong Jr

IBEW Local 1245 Manager – Worker safety, vegetation management, utility infrastructure and emerging technologies, publicly-owned utilities.

Timothy Haines

Grid & Power Symmetry, Principal – Board and executive management, strategic planning/change management, utility business models, publicly-owned utilities.

Alexandra Syphard

Senior Research Ecologist – Geospatial, statistical and risk modeling approaches, fire ecology & land use, vegetation & wildfire patterns.

Christopher Porter

Vice Chair, IBEW Local 47 Business Representative – Worker qualifications, publicly-owned utilities, utility infrastructure, Board management.

Diane Fellman

Attorney & Regulatory Specialist – Board management and strategic planning; utility business models; energy and regulatory policy and procedure.

John Mader

PG&E Engineer, ESC Local 20 IFPTE President – Utility infrastructure design, PSPS reduction via risk modeling & targeted hardening, resource allocation.

Wildfire Safety Advisory Board

Inquiries

All inquiries may be submitted to wsab@energysafety.ca.gov.

Staff and Advisors

Advisors

Jonathan Frost

Sang Soble

Assistant/Retired Annuitant

Mary Ann Aguayo