Former President & Chief Executive Officer, CPS Energy 
San Antonio, Texas

Paula Gold-Williams joined the Emera Board of Directors in February 2022.

Paula spent much of her career with CPS Energy, the largest public power, natural gas and electric company in the U.S. She joined the organization in 2004 and was appointed Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer in 2008. She became President and Chief Executive Officer in 2015, a position she held until her retirement in 2022. Throughout her tenure, Paula demonstrated exceptional stakeholder management skills, building trusted relationships with the board and municipal leaders while implementing a people-first corporate philosophy focused on customers and employees. Her leadership is also credited with guiding the company to achieving one of the highest credit ratings in the industry and successfully improving corporate safety culture and performance. 

Previously, Paula was Corporate Vice President, Finance and Accounting for Luby’s, a Texas-based restaurant chain, as well as Controller and Interim Vice President of Time Warner, a U.S. based cable company currently known as Warner Media.

Paula has been an active member of her community and has broad director experience. She served on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas—San Antonio Branch and is a former director and Chair of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. Currently, she is a also member of the Board of Directors of ReNew Energy Global, Plc. and serves on the United States Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board. She is also Co-Chair of the board of the Keystone Policy Center and serves as an Energy Pillar Co-Chair of Dentons’ Global Smart Cities & Communities Initiatives and Think Tank. 

Paula earned a Fine Arts degree from San Antonio College and a Bachelor of Business Administration from St. Mary’s University in Texas. She also earned a Master of Business Administration in finance and accounting from Regis University in Colorado. Paula is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA).

In recognition of her extensive contributions to industry and community, Paula has received numerous awards and honours including being named among Smart Energy International’s 2021 Global Power & Energy Elites. She was also recognized as a Top CEO in Energy by The Energy Diversity & Inclusion Council in 2021 and Woman of the Year by the San Antonio Business Journal in 2020. In 2019, she was named Chief Trailblazer of the Year by S&P Global Platts.