Sustainability Highlight
pge-corp
At PG&E, we’re focused on providing all customers with clean energy service that is affordable, accessible, and equitable. Our wide range of energy efficiency programs helps customers reduce their energy use and save money. We also offer financial assistance programs to help customers who are facing financial challenges, who live in underrepresented communities, or who face issues related to environmental and social justice.
Our approach
Energy efficiency programs play an essential role in energy affordability. Our website includes an extensive set of energy-saving tips and support to locate energy efficient appliances and equipment. It also provides tools, like Home Energy Checkups and Home Energy Reports, that help customers analyze their usage and pinpoint ways to save.
Beyond rebate programs, PG&E offers an Energy Savings Assistance Program (ESA) designed specifically for customers with incomes under 250% of the federal poverty level. This program provides an array of weatherization, energy efficiency solutions, and appliances at no cost to qualifying households and served approximately 65,500 customers in 2023.
In addition, PG&E works closely with customers facing financial challenges. PG&E has programs to accommodate every customer’s financial circumstance.
In addition, discounts are available for customers who have special energy needs due to certain qualifying medical conditions through our Medical Baseline Program. PG&E also offers an Economic Development Rate to businesses considering locating in California, relocating from California to other states, or closing their existing California operations. More than 135 companies have signed up for the rate since 2014, creating or retaining more than 21,000 local jobs and enhancing economic vitality in communities across PG&E’s service area.
At PG&E, we recognize our responsibility to understand and respect the needs of our neighbors, including low-income communities and Black, Indigenous, and people and communities of color. Our efforts are guided by our Environmental and Social Justice (ESJ) Policy.
PG&E maintains a dedicated ESJ team to coordinate our efforts from an operational and policy perspective, including engaging with external stakeholders and assisting with internal capacity building as part of a broader companywide effort to better address the needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.
Examples of our ESJ Policy in action include:
- Training more than 600 coworkers—including PG&E’s officer team—to build the competencies to reduce our impact and improve our collaboration with ESJ communities.
- Convening an internal ESJ working group to build an action plan and strengthen our internal governance on ESJ initiatives.
- Maintaining our focus on providing affordable energy service and offering financial assistance programs to help customers who are facing financial challenges.
- Continuing our long history of support for supplier diversity and the growth and development of small and diverse businesses.
Our ESJ Policy aligns with our Human Rights Policy, which states that we will conduct our business in a manner that respects the human rights of all. We also continue to support community stakeholders and CARB in the implementation of AB 617 and community air-protection programs.
Measuring progress
PG&E is building a better future for California and the world by delivering a clean, climate-resilient energy system to meet our customers’ future needs. Our goal is to build this system at the lowest price for our customers and we’re proud of our progress. In 2023, we undergrounded 364 miles of powerlines at 10% lower cost than forecast, delivered some of the nation’s cleanest energy, and provided 99% reliability in natural gas service.
We’re doing our part to lower prices by:
- Controlling our operating and materials costs while continuing to improve safety.
- Making permanent infrastructure investments instead of costly annual maintenance.
- Working to spread costs over long periods of time to reduce bill spikes.
- Advocating for state policy changes to lower rates.
- Seeking other funding like federal grants to pay for safety and reliability work.
In 2023, as reported in our fourth-quarter earnings, we achieved significant operating cost savings in part by doing our work more efficiently. Examples of cost savings include:
- Reduced vegetation management costs by $300 million by bundling our work and reducing rework.
- Reduced undergrounding trench depth, which cut down on active construction time, to bring down costs by $68 million—making it safer, faster, and reducing impacts to communities.
- Developed process improvements in new business connections, saving $24 million.
Benchmarking energy bills
Almost a third of what our customers pay for energy today is a result of California state policy. These state-mandated programs, financed through utility bills, provide benefits to Californians, but disproportionately burden low-income households. California has huge opportunities to reduce energy prices through changes in policy.
PG&E benchmarks our average residential bills for gas and electric service, using figures compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The average PG&E residential bundled electric customer paid $169.17 per month, which was higher than the national average. Data is from 2022, the most recent year for which comparative data is available.
The average PG&E residential gas customer paid $75.16 per month, which was lower than the national average. Data is from 2022, the most recent year for which comparative data is available.
- Average monthly electric bundled bills[1] (2022)
- Average monthly gas bills[1] (2022)
- Source: EIA Annual Electric Power Industry Report, Form EIA-861- schedules 4A & 4D and EIA-861S
- Source: EIA-176, residential (excludes residential transport only)
Energy Savings Assistance Program
PG&E’s Energy Savings Assistance Program helps income-qualified customers who are also CARE customers reduce energy use and better manage costs through a variety of energy-education and energy-efficiency measures, including home weatherization to reduce airflow in and out of the home and guidance to help reduce water use.
Homes treated through Energy Savings Assistance Program
Contribution to state and local revenues
We contribute revenue that state and local governments depend on to fund critical public services. In addition to property taxes, PG&E pays franchise fees to cities and counties for the right to use public streets for gas and electric facilities.
- Includes franchise fee surcharges and city franchise surcharges.
- Property tax payments are based on a fiscal year (July 1-June 30), not calendar year.