PG&EPG&E Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report 2023

Upward view of solar panels with the sun overhead

Our Climate Goals

We have committed to a set of longer-term climate goals, which reflect our plan to bring about a clean energy future in partnership with our customers and other stakeholders. Our comprehensive Climate Strategy Report (PDF) serves as our guiding document and action plan as we work to achieve our goals.

Our Commitment: Helping to Heal the Planet

PG&E is committed to helping heal the planet through a pledge to achieve:
  • A climate- and nature-positive energy system by 2050.
  • A net zero energy system in 2040—five years ahead of California’s current carbon neutrality goal.
  • A series of 2030 climate goals to reduce PG&E’s operational carbon footprint and enable our customers and communities to reduce their carbon footprints:
    • Reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% from 2015 levels
    • Reduce Scope 3 emissions by 25% from 2015 levels
    • Achieve “Scope 4” goals to enable customer emission reductions
Notes:
  • Scope 1: Direct emissions from PG&E’s operations.
  • Scope 2: Indirect emissions from facility electricity use and electric line losses.
  • Scope 3: Emissions resulting from value chain activities not owned or controlled by PG&E but that can be indirectly impacted by PG&E actions.
  • Scope 4: An emerging term for categorizing emission reductions enabled by a company. PG&E can make a significant contribution by enabling these emission reductions in our service area.

Progress to Date:

PG&E has a long history of measuring, independently verifying, and publicly reporting our Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions. Under mandatory reporting requirements, PG&E reports certain greenhouse gas emissions (PDF) to the California Air Resources Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on an annual basis. On a voluntary basis, PG&E reports our annual corporate greenhouse gas emissions inventory with The Climate Registry, a nonprofit organization.

Clean Energy

PG&E delivers some of the nation’s cleanest energy. In 2022, the carbon dioxide (CO2) emission rate for PG&E’s delivered electricity was more than 90% cleaner than the latest national average among energy providers. This preliminary emission rate is undergoing third-party verification.

Benchmarking Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Delivered Electricity
(Pounds of CO2 per MWh)
U.S. Average
8521
2005
489
2006
456
2007
636
2008
641
2009
575
2010
445
2011
393
2012
445
2013
427
2014
435
2015
405
2016
294
2017
210
2018
206
2019
192
2020
160
2021
98
2022
563 90%+ cleaner than national average of 852
  • 1. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency eGRID 2021.1
  • 2. Beginning with our 2019 emissions reporting, PG&E has used the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Power Source Disclosure program methodology to calculate the CO2 emission rate associated with the electricity delivered to retail customers. This methodology differed from prior reporting years and may result in lower emissions rates.2
  • 3. Source: PG&E’s Power Source Disclosure Report, filed with the CEC in 2023. This figure is preliminary and is subject to an independent audit and verification for regulatory compliance. Additionally, the figure is pending verification as part of PG&E’s 2022 voluntary corporate greenhouse gas emissions inventory with The Climate Registry.3
Emission Reduction Progress
PG&E’s Scope 1 & 2 Goal: Reduce emissions by 50% from 2015 levels by 2030
(Million Metric Tons CO2-e)1
Barchart showing scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction. year 2015: 5.46 baseline; year 2020: 26% reduction; year 2021: 29% reduction; year 2022: 37% reduction, footnote for year 2022 - PG&E's 2022 voluntary greenhouse gas emissions inventory is undergoing third-party verification before being finalized with The Climate Registry; year 2030: target reduction -50%.
  • 1. Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from PG&E’s operations and Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from facility electricity use and electric line losses.1
  • 2. PG&E’s 2022 voluntary greenhouse gas emissions inventory is undergoing third-party verification before being finalized with The Climate Registry.
  • 3. PG&E utilized a leak-based emission methodology to calculate certain categories of natural gas process and fugitive emissions, following regulatory approval from the CPUC on the emission calculation methodology.3
PG&E’s Scope 3 Goal: Reduce emissions by 25% from 2015 levels by 2030
(Million Metric Tons CO2-e)1
Barchart showing scope 3 emissions reduction. year 2015: 4.80 baseline; year 2020: 23% reduction; year 2021: 19% reduction; year 2022: 20% reduction, footnote for year 2022 - PG&E's 2022 voluntary greenhouse gas emissions inventory is undergoing third-party verification before being finalized with The Climate Registry; year 2030: target reduction -25%
  • 1. Scope 3 emissions are emissions resulting from value chain activities not owned or controlled by PG&E but can be indirectly impacted by PG&E actions.1
  • 2. PG&E’s 2022 voluntary greenhouse gas emissions inventory is undergoing third-party verification before being finalized with The Climate Registry.
  • 3. Beginning with our 2019 emissions reporting, PG&E has used the CEC’s Power Source Disclosure program methodology to calculate the CO2 emissions associated with the electricity delivered to retail customers.3
  • 4. PG&E has improved calculation methods for emissions from customer natural gas use by excluding PG&E-owned natural gas generators and natural gas compressor stations; these emissions are accounted for under Scope 1.4
PG&E’s Scope 1 Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Million Metric Tons CO2-e)
2020 2021 20221
Total Scope 1 Greenhouse Gas Emissions 3.89 3.81 3.35
Owned Fossil Generation 2.56 2.49 2.19
Process and Fugitive Emissions from Natural Gas System2 0.89 0.89 0.82
Gas Compressor Stations 0.29 0.30 0.25
SF6 from Electrical Equipment 0.06 0.04 0.0023
Transportation 0.09 0.09 0.09
Facility Natural Gas Use 0.01 0.01 0.01
  • 1. PG&E’s 2022 voluntary greenhouse gas emissions inventory is undergoing third-party verification before being finalized with The Climate Registry.1
  • 2. PG&E utilized a leak-based emission methodology to calculate certain categories of natural gas process and fugitive emissions, following regulatory approval from the CPUC on the emission calculation methodology. This approach differs from prior years where a population-based approach was used. Using the prior, population-based methodology results in emissions totaling 1.53 million MT CO2-e in 2020 and 1.54 million MT CO2-e in 2021.2
  • 3. PG&E’s SF6 emissions decreased significantly in 2022 as a result of enhanced calculation methods and improved operational processes to reduce leaks and manage the company’s assets and inventory.3
PG&E’s Scope 2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Million Metric Tons CO2-e)
2020 2021 20221
Total Scope 2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions 0.22 0.16 0.08
Electricity Transmission and Distribution Line Losses 0.20 0.15 0.07
Facility Electricity Use 0.02 0.01 0.01
  • 1. PG&E’s 2022 voluntary greenhouse gas emissions inventory is undergoing third-party verification before being finalized with The Climate Registry.1
PG&E’s Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Million Metric Tons CO2-e)
2020 2021 20221
Total Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas Emissions 37.33 39.17 38.75
Purchased Electricity (Net)2 1.35 0.78 0.44
Customer Natural Gas Use3 35.97 38.39 38.31
Other Scope 3 emissions4 0.01 0.004 0.004
  • 1. PG&E’s 2022 voluntary greenhouse gas emissions inventory is undergoing third-party verification before being finalized with The Climate Registry.1
  • 2. The emissions associated with purchased electricity are considered Scope 3 per The Climate Registry’s Electric Power Sector Protocol for the Voluntary Reporting Program, Annex I to the General Reporting Protocol, June 2009, Version 1.0. Beginning with our 2019 emissions reporting, PG&E has used the CEC’s Power Source Disclosure program methodology to calculate the CO2 emissions associated with the electricity delivered to retail customers. This methodology differed from prior reporting years and may result in lower emissions.2
  • 3. PG&E has improved calculation methods for emissions from customer natural gas use by excluding PG&E-owned natural gas generators and natural gas compressor stations; these emissions are accounted for under Scope 1. The prior methodology, which included these sources, resulted in 38.84 million MT CO2-e in 2020 and 41.19 million MT CO2-e in 2021.3
  • 4. Other Scope 3 emissions include the greenhouse gas emissions from business air travel, waste management and employee commuting.4