Climate Change
Working to meet the challenge of climate change is central to PG&E’s long-term vision. Our commitment includes aligning our resources and business strategy with the state’s clean energy goals, and advocacy for policies and programs that enable safe, reliable, affordable and clean energy for our customers. We do so while also working to reduce the ever-growing threat of extreme weather and wildfires.
We are delivering clean and renewable energy to customers, strengthening our infrastructure in response to changing climate conditions and reducing our operational carbon footprint. We are also committed to supporting efforts at the local level to make the communities we serve more resilient to climate threats.
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(Skip to main navigation)Our Approach
PG&E is committed to California’s vision of a sustainable energy future. Led by significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the electric sector this decade, California is on track to achieve the 2020 target established by California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, or Assembly Bill (AB) 32, of reducing economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions to the 1990 level of 431 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2-e) by 2020.
PG&E also remains actively engaged with policymakers and various stakeholders on the implementation of Senate Bill (SB) 32, which requires that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) ensure a 40 percent reduction in economy-wide greenhouse gases by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
PG&E supported AB 398, which extends California’s cap-and-trade program for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and provides cost protections for energy consumers. PG&E has advocated at CARB in support of a well-designed cap-and-trade program in CARB’s many rulemakings over the past decade, including most recently the implementation of AB 398. The cap-and-trade program covers emissions from PG&E’s fossil-fuel power plants, natural gas distribution to customers not directly covered by the program, compressor stations and electricity imported into California.
In addition, PG&E has been actively working with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to implement SB 350’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) requirements to meet the electric sector’s contribution to the state’s greenhouse gas reduction targets and do so in a way that minimizes impacts on all customers’ energy bills.
Looking ahead, PG&E is committed to California’s implementation of SB 100 and carbon neutrality by 2045 in a reliable and cost-effective manner for customers. SB 100, which includes increased RPS objectives and clean energy goals, is still being implemented by the CPUC, CEC and CARB. Additionally, Executive Order B-55-18 sets a statewide goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. We anticipate that we will be an active participant in future efforts in the Legislature to codify the carbon neutrality goal and in proceedings at the CPUC, CEC, and CARB to determine how to achieve carbon neutrality.
Reporting Our Impacts
We believe it is essential that investors, customers, policymakers and other stakeholders have access to information that allows them to assess and understand the risks and opportunities associated with climate change.
PG&E reports its greenhouse gas emissions to the California Air Resources Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on a mandatory basis. On a voluntary basis, PG&E reports a more comprehensive emissions inventory to The Climate Registry, a nonprofit organization. Each year, PG&E also reports its greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies to the CDP (PDF), an international not-for-profit organization that requests information on behalf of institutional investors.
Engaging Our Customers and Communities
PG&E actively works with customers to help them achieve energy savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions through a broad range of programs and incentives for energy efficiency, demand response and distributed generation and storage. These efforts include helping local governments develop strategies and implementation plans to save energy and reduce emissions, and connecting them with PG&E programs and other resources to help them meet their energy goals.
Addressing Our Own Carbon Footprint
As part of PG&E’s broader commitment to address climate change, we launched the Million Ton Challenge, a voluntary five-year carbon reduction goal for Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s operations. The goal is to avoid one million tons of cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from our operations from 2018 through 2022, compared to a 2016 baseline.
To meet the goal, we are working to reduce emissions across several business areas:
- Saving energy through energy-efficient and more sustainable facilities,
- Reducing methane emissions from natural gas operations,
- Continuing to deploy a smarter, cleaner fleet of PG&E vehicles, and
- Adopt environmentally responsible products and services, with a focus on electric substation equipment.
Clean Energy Policy
PG&E supports the decarbonization of California’s economy through timely, durable, effective and affordable policy and energy solutions. We remain committed to climate actions to reduce greenhouse gases and address the impacts of global warming—from deploying clean energy technologies to continuing to lead and innovate on energy efficiency.
As required by SB 32, CARB adopted its 2030 Scoping Plan Update in 2018, which established the state’s plan for achieving the 2030 GHG target. We remain engaged in state regulatory and legislative climate change activities to meet the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals at the lowest possible cost to customers.
We also remain focused on other Scoping Plan measures such as Low Carbon Fuel Standard implementation and the reduction of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants per SB 1383, which includes specific 2030 emission reduction goals for methane, fluorinated gases and anthropogenic black carbon.
PG&E also supports California’s stringent greenhouse tailpipe emissions standards, as well as advancing EV adoption by providing tax incentives and support for charging infrastructure. In 2019, as part of our membership in the National Coalition for Advanced Transportation, PG&E joined California and several other states in a lawsuit against revising the EPA’s existing greenhouse gas emission standards.
Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change
As California continues to experience the impacts of climate change, PG&E is taking action to build a more climate resilient energy network. PG&E’s infrastructure spans more than 70,000 square miles and faces a variety of risks driven by the changing climate, including heat waves, more frequent and extreme storms and wildfires, drought, subsidence, and rising sea levels.
Adapting to these changing risks involves understanding the impacts of climate change on our business, employees, customers and the communities we serve. It also means being prepared to withstand and rapidly recover from major disruptions in service caused by climate-driven weather events. PG&E’s commitment is to continue to provide safe, reliable, affordable and clean energy service even as the climate conditions under which we operate become more challenging.
PG&E’s multipronged approach includes:
- Integrating climate science into key business functions and creating tools to support planning and decision-making that takes into account the future climate. For example:
- We are leveraging data from Cal-Adapt, the state’s portal for climate projection data, as we strive to ensure that investments in our system will be adequate in light of more extreme weather expected in the future.
- We are integrating climate data into PG&E’s strategic risk planning process. Pacific Gas and Electric Company will file its second Risk Assessment Mitigation Phase report with the CPUC in 2020. We filed our first assessment in 2017.
- We have begun to assess the maturity of key capabilities among the lines of business that are critical to effectively plan for climate change. PG&E set its first internal baseline in 2018.
- We are also conducting research into specific climate impacts and how they relate to PG&E’s infrastructure. This research is designed to empower decision-makers with robust analysis around climate threats to our system.
- We coordinate internally to bridge the gap between near-term emergency preparedness efforts and longer-term climatic trends that may contribute to extreme weather events.
- Engaging with utility peers and policymakers to advance energy sector climate resilience, stay up to date on the most recent developments in the field, and help state and federal officials in their efforts to prepare for climate change. Pacific Gas and Electric Company participates in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research’s Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resilience Program, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience, and the Corporate Climate Resilience Council. We are also an active participant in CPUC efforts to establish guidance for the utilities regarding adapting to climate change.
- Partner directly with customers and communities to enhance climate resilience in California. PG&E offers grants to help communities through our Better Together Resilient Communities program.
PG&E’s climate adaptation efforts are overseen by our Climate Resilience Officer Committee, which includes leaders from key departments across the business. This group of senior leaders is also responsible for their respective line-of-business Climate Action Plans.
With regard to increased electricity demand from more extreme, persistent and frequent hot weather, PG&E believes its strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—such as energy efficiency and demand response programs, infrastructure improvements and the support of renewable energy development and storage—will help address the state’s evolving energy demands.
Air Quality and Environmental Justice
In July 2017, California took an important step to address air pollution in the most heavily burdened communities through the passage of AB 617, which directs CARB to develop a community air monitoring and community emissions reduction program and to deploy them in the highest priority communities.
PG&E strongly supports a comprehensive, statewide air protection program and was actively engaged in the development and passage of AB 617. PG&E is working with CARB and other stakeholders through the AB 617 implementation process to ensure that the community air protection programs are successful and effective at reducing emissions in disadvantaged communities.
2019 Milestones
In 2019, we continued to minimize our carbon footprint and prepare for the consequences of a changing climate:
- Delivered clean energy to customers. In 2019, nearly 30 percent of our delivered electricity came from state-eligible renewable energy sources, and we remain on track to meet the state’s renewable energy requirements under SB 350 and SB 100.
- Reduced emissions from our operations. In the second year of the Million Ton Challenge, Pacific Gas and Electric Company avoided about 110,000 tons of CO2. With a total of more than 550,000 tons avoided to date, we are well on our way toward our five-year goal. This included avoiding emissions through energy-efficient and more sustainable facilities, continuing to deploy clean fleet vehicles, and reducing methane emissions from natural gas operations.
- Launched our second Climate Vulnerability Assessment. PG&E is embarking on a service area-wide assessment of how climate-driven natural hazards will impact our assets. This climate vulnerability assessment, which will be conducted over several years, will rely on recent climate projections from California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment.
It will update our first climate vulnerability report, completed in 2016, to better understand and prepare for the impacts of climate change. By characterizing the risks of California’s future climate, the updated assessment will help PG&E make climate-smart investments in the near term to continue providing safe, clean, affordable and reliable energy to customers in the future.