Engaging Stakeholders

Delivering safe, reliable, affordable and clean gas and electric service to our customers is PG&E’s fundamental role as a utility. To meet this objective, we actively engage with an array of stakeholders, including customers, communities, employees, suppliers and investors—working to better understand their needs, keep them informed of our progress and problem-solve together for success.

Our Approach

Recognizing the diversity among our stakeholders, PG&E is focused on localizing our presence and strategies in the communities we are privileged to serve. This includes formally empowering our teams to work more effectively together at the local level and better incorporating local needs and concerns into our operating decisions. We have built local cross-functional leadership teams who meet regularly to address local issues. The teams are led by local managers and include representatives from across the business.

Step Up and Power Down logoAmong many examples of our engagement, we have launched Step Up and Power Down, an exciting community initiative to inspire customers and employees to make simple changes to reduce energy waste at home and at work. San Francisco and San Jose have joined with PG&E to encourage energy efficiency in their cities, with a chance to earn up to $2 million in funds for local businesses to reinvest in sustainability programs. PG&E is also partnering with the cities of Redwood City, San Carlos and Woodland to help residents make their homes more energy efficient.

Because PG&E is regulated by numerous federal, state, regional and local government agencies, we also engage through the regulatory process in numerous multi-stakeholder public processes convened by the California Public Utilities Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other regulatory agencies.

The chart below highlights some of our channels of engagement with stakeholder groups and how we are working to meet their expectations of PG&E.

Customers Selected Channels of Engagement
  • 5.3 million electric accounts
  • 4.4 million natural gas accounts
  • Channel of choice for communication: text, email or phone
  • Customer satisfaction surveys, an online community called Customer Voice, in-language focus groups and other research
  • Online energy management and bill pay options
  • Self-service capabilities like reconnecting service via Interactive Voice Response technology
  • Social media platforms
  • Communications in multiple languages and formats
  • Customer Advisory Council focused on diversity outreach and engagement
  • Open houses on key projects
  • Customer account and service representatives
  • Customer call centers and local offices
Communities Selected Channels of Engagement
  • Emergency first responders
  • Community organizations
  • Environmental organizations
  • Economic development organizations
  • Local public safety teams
  • Workshops, training and practice drills with local emergency agencies and first responders
  • Community Advisory Council with leaders representing diverse constituencies we serve
  • Participation in coalitions and networks, such as Ceres, California Environmental Dialogue and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group
  • Active participation of officers and other employees on nonprofit boards
  • Employee volunteers
  • Meetings, conferences and community events
  • Support for local programs through community investments
  • Economic Development Leadership Roundtables
Employees Selected Channels of Engagement
  • Current employees
  • Prospective employees
  • Retirees
  • Labor unions
  • Biennial employee engagement survey
  • Employee Resource Groups
  • Awards recognizing employee leadership on safety, diversity, volunteering, innovation and the environment
  • Mentoring program
  • Workforce recruiting and training programs
  • Employee and retiree newsletters
  • Training and skills development
  • Labor and management joint engagement on key topics
  • Here to Help Hotline for any employee who encounters a stakeholder with a grievance
Investors Selected Channels of Engagement
As of December 31, 2014:
  • Approximately 86 percent of PG&E Corporation shares were held by institutional investors
  • The top 10 institutional investors owned approximately 49 percent of our stock
  • Quarterly earnings calls and news releases
  • One-on-one meetings and industry conferences
  • Required disclosures
  • Discussions with institutional investors regarding corporate governance
  • Engagement with socially responsible investors
Suppliers Selected Channels of Engagement
  • Diverse suppliers (women-, minority-, service-disabled-veteran- and LGBT-owned businesses)
  • Local suppliers
  • Small suppliers
  • Non-diverse prime suppliers
  • Supplier Diversity Program with specific spending targets
  • Workshops and capacity-building training that support safe, cyber-secure, green and thriving diverse suppliers
  • Technical assistance and training programs for suppliers, many in conjunction with community organizations
  • Annual Supplier Diversity and Sustainability Achievement Awards
  • Supplier Sustainability Program
  • Engagement with the Electric Utility Industry Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance and the California Utilities Diversity Council
  • Facilitating supplier mentoring relationships
  • Engagement with local and national diverse business organizations

Example: Responding to Feedback

Our stakeholder engagement efforts also include actively working with Ceres, a leading nonprofit that works with companies to address sustainability challenges. Since 2006, we have invited Ceres to facilitate a dialogue with a group of our stakeholders on steps we can take to improve our disclosure and performance and realize our goals. The discussion has included thought leaders from different stakeholder constituencies, such as labor union representatives, customers, investors, environmental and community groups, and suppliers.

In its review of our 2014 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report, Ceres cited numerous examples of continuous improvement, such as the inclusion of our materiality matrix and report sections that better align with material issues. Ceres also shared several high-level recommendations, drawing upon its long history of engagement with PG&E and our stakeholders.

For example, Ceres recommended that we more explicitly address the evolution of the utility business model and our CEO’s vision for the future of our industry. In this report, we highlight our vision for the future of the grid—we call it the Grid of Things™—in our Message from the Chairman and CEO and reinforce this vision with examples throughout the report. Ceres also recommended that we disclose customer satisfaction performance alongside our discussion of customer engagement strategies, which we do in the Engaging Customers section.

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