PG&E Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report 2020

Plan of Reorganization Commitments

Integrating Sustainability

PG&E defines sustainability as meeting the needs of today in a way that creates a better tomorrow—for our customers, communities, employees and the planet.

As an energy provider rooted in California, PG&E confronts choices and challenges with environmental, social and economic factors that affect the customers and communities we serve. Finding the right balance between these factors in the decisions PG&E makes is essential to achieving our goals of providing safe, reliable, affordable, and clean energy—today and into the future.

Corporate sustainability as business strategy has never been more important—taking an approach that considers PG&E’s operations through the lens of preparing for the future and providing long-term value to our many stakeholders. In fact, doing so is what customers, investors, policymakers, regulators, environmental and social justice advocates and many others have come to expect from PG&E.

To help guide our decisions, we rely on our Mission, Vision and Culture framework, developed through extensive outreach and interactions with our employees, customers and other stakeholders. Importantly, it places a sustainable energy future at the center as our North Star.

Our Mission

To safely and reliably deliver affordable and clean energy to our customers and communities every single day, while building the energy network of tomorrow.

Our Vision

With a sustainable energy future as our North Star, we will meet the challenge of climate change while providing affordable energy for all customers.

Our Cuture

  • We put safety first.
  • We act with integrity and humility. We are transparent, accountable, and lead by example.
  • The needs of our customers are central to our decisions.
  • We embrace change, innovation and continuous improvement.
  • We value diversity and inclusion. We speak up, listen up, and follow up.
  • We succeed through collaboration and partnership. We are one team.

Governance

On July 1, 2020, in connection with our emergence from Chapter 11, PG&E Corporation substantially changed the membership of its Board of Directors to help guide the company post-bankruptcy.

The new Board of Directors consists of 14 members, 11 of whom are new. Six of the new Board members have geographic ties to California. The Board of Directors of the Utility is largely the same as PG&E Corporation, with the Chief Executive Officer of the Utility serving as an additional member.

Upon our emergence from Chapter 11, William L. Smith became Interim Chief Executive Officer and President of PG&E Corporation effective July 1, 2020. The new Board of Directors of PG&E Corporation will be responsible for selecting a permanent Chief Executive Officer and President of PG&E Corporation.

At PG&E, sustainability is managed on three levels:

Boards of Directors

The Boards of PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company have numerous permanent standing committees, which support both of the Boards’ basic responsibilities. The standing committees are as follows:

  • Executive
  • Audit
  • Compensation
  • Compliance and Public Policy
  • Finance
  • Nominating and Governance
  • Safety and Nuclear Oversight

The Compliance and Public Policy Committee of PG&E Corporation’s Board of Directors has primary oversight of corporate sustainability issues, such as environmental compliance and leadership, climate change, community investments and workforce development. This includes an annual review of PG&E’s sustainability practices and performance. Additional committees of the PG&E Corporation Board and the full PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company Boards address other components of PG&E’s sustainability commitment, including public and employee safety, operational excellence and investments to increase our delivery of clean energy and enable a low-carbon future.

Business-Wide

PG&E Corporation’s Vice President of Federal Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer is responsible for leading PG&E’s corporate sustainability initiatives, reporting and engagement.

To further embed sustainability into our operations, PG&E established an internal Sustainability Leadership Council, co-chaired by the Chief Sustainability Officer and Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Chief Customer Officer. The Council brings together leaders from functions such as gas and electric operations, supply chain management, corporate real estate, transportation services, environmental compliance and customer energy solutions to spearhead PG&E’s Million Ton Challenge goal to avoid one million tons of cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from PG&E’s operations from 2018 through 2022, compared to a 2016 baseline.

In addition, our Chief Sustainability Officer and Chief Risk Officer co-chair the Climate Resilience Officer Committee, which includes leaders from key departments across the business. The Committee provides leadership, guidance and governance for climate resilience objectives that meaningfully impact PG&E and the communities we serve and help ensure the continued safe, reliable and affordable operation of PG&E’s system in the face of a changing climate.

Grassroots Involvement

Employee-led initiatives throughout PG&E help integrate corporate sustainability priorities into our work. For example, our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) provide an important link to diverse communities through volunteer service, mentoring and scholarship awards. ERG members come from every level and job function and participate across 27 chapters throughout our service area.

Materiality

To further strengthen PG&E’s sustainability focus, and to inform our overall corporate strategy, PG&E completed our most recent materiality assessment for corporate sustainability in 2017. The assessment was a strategic project to help us identify topics that are material to the long-term sustainability of our business. Consistent with best practice, we plan to conduct our next materiality assessment in 2021.

Conducted in coordination with PG&E’s strategic planning process, our 2017 materiality assessment integrated input from our stakeholders and members of our executive team, identified opportunities and risks, and sharpened our corporate sustainability strategy and reporting. The assessment identified 18 issues, grouped into four categories: safety and security, climate change strategy, customer engagement and retention, and integrity and credibility.

Creating Incentives

PG&E’s Short-Term Incentive Plan (STIP), an at-risk part of employee compensation, reinforces PG&E’s sustainability commitment by rewarding eligible employees for achieving specific goals crucial to our success. The Bankruptcy Court approved PG&E’s 2019 STIP for performance management-eligible employees. The 2019 STIP was focused on the important company objectives of safety, financial health and customer impact.

Short-Term Incentive Plan – Performance Measures
Measure 2019 Weight
Safety Footnote 1 65%
Financial Footnote 2 25%
Customer Footnote 3 10%
  • 1. Based on several subcomponents covering nuclear operations safety, electric operations safety, gas operations safety and employee safety.1
  • 2. Based on PG&E Corporation’s earnings from operations.2
  • 3. Based on escalated customer complaints.3

The 2019 STIP was paid each quarter based on PG&E’s cumulative, year-to-date results against the STIP metrics. The STIP remains an at-risk plan, subject to enterprise performance and Compensation Committee approval. In 2019, our most senior officers were not eligible to participate in the STIP. Additionally, any PG&E Corporation or Utility officer compensation will be exclusively funded by shareholders through 2022.