Volunteerism and Community Support

Employees volunteered 24,745 hours in 2009 through nearly 480 company-organized events. This translated into approximately $500,000 in equivalent labor, using the industry standard value of $20.85 for a volunteer hour. These results exceeded our employee volunteer target for 2009. For 2010, we have set a more aggressive target of 26,000 hours, a 5 percent increase. We also set a target to involve 5,325 employee volunteers at company-sponsored volunteer events in 2010.

By volunteering their time, our employees demonstrate a spirit of partnership, community service and giving. Highlights from 2009 include the following:

1. We celebrated Earth Day with the California State Parks Foundation (CSPF) for the eighth consecutive year by helping to protect and preserve parks in northern and central California. More than 1,300 PG&E volunteers—employees, retirees and their families and friends—worked at 16 parks, recreation areas and beaches to plant trees, repair nature trails, remove invasive plants, refurbish picnic areas and remove litter. Over the past eight years, PG&E has granted more than $1.2 million to the CSPF to help fund vital maintenance and improvements at California parks. During that time, company volunteers have contributed more than 18,000 hours to support Earth Day activities.
   
   


2. When Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared drought-stricken Fresno County a disaster area last August, 85 employees volunteered nearly 320 hours of service to help deliver 3 million pounds of food to assist farm communities in the area.
3. Nearly 200 employees volunteered almost 1,000 hours of service last year to take part in monthly projects to help beautify and maintain scenic Angel Island State Park in San Francisco Bay, working with the California State Parks Department.

PG&E supports our communities through the active participation of the company's leadership on many non-profit boards. PG&E's goal is for 100 percent of the company's officers to serve on non-profit boards, and, at nearly 80 percent, we are well on our way to achieving this goal. Officers sit on the boards of a diverse group of non-profits, such as the Alliance to Save Energy, Bay Area Chapter of the Red Cross and San Francisco Food Bank. PG&E employees of all ranks are sought after as members of non-profit boards, and they serve a range of organizations.

PG&E is an active participant in the lives of the communities we serve, supporting the good work of hundreds of local civic organizations. Here are some of the community awards we received for our work in 2009:

1. California Business Volunteer Program of the Year Award
2. Corporate Community Involvement Award—Volunteer Center of San Francisco
3. Lincoln Area Chamber of Commerce—2009 Major Business of the Year
4. Manteca Chamber of Commerce—Large Business of the Year Award