PG&E Customers Encouraged to Explore Financial Assistance Programs to Lower Energy Costs and Manage Summer Bills
This is a press release from Pacific Gas and Electric Company:
As summer heats up and home energy use increases in parts of California, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) urges eligible customers to enroll in financial assistance programs to help lower energy costs and better manage summer energy bills.
PG&E also continues working with customers who have past-due balances—as result of the pandemic or other financial hardship—to help them set up payment arrangements or get help with unpaid balances and prevent a service disconnection.
“Customers in many of our hometowns use more electricity to cool their homes as the weather gets hotter in the summer months. For many customers, higher energy use can have a significant impact on household finances. PG&E wants to help, and we will work with individual customers on their specific needs,” said Vincent Davis, PG&E Vice President, Customer Operations and Enablement.
Programs That Can Help
Customers may qualify for support from financial assistance programs, including:
- Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP): A federally funded program that helps low-income households with their energy bills, including those at risk of having service interrupted for non-payment. LIHEAP is overseen by the California Department of Community Services and Development and administered by nonprofit agencies. Program eligibility is determined by income, household size, place of residence, and other factors. To find the local LIHEAP agency, visit csd.ca.gov/energybills or call 866-675-6623.
- California Alternative Rates for Energy Program (CARE): Qualified households can save 20% or more each month on their energy bill. Customers can apply for CARE online at pge.com/CARE. Applying is easy and only takes about five minutes. Qualifying customers will begin receiving the CARE program discount within their next billing cycle.
- Family Electric Rate Assistance Program (FERA): Income-qualified households with three or more people can apply for the FERA program at pge.com/FERA for an 18% discount on their electric bill.
- Relief for Energy Assistance through Community Help Program (REACH): Provides income-qualified customers with financial assistance up to $500, based on their past due bill, during times of hardship (energy credit support is subject to funding availability). Customers can apply for REACH support at dollarenergy.org/MyApp.
- Medical Baseline Program: Customers on the Medical Baseline program who have special energy needs due to certain qualifying medical conditions can receive a lower rate on monthly energy bills.
Post-Pandemic and Other Customer Support
In response to COVID-19, PG&E implemented a series of emergency protections for customers including a moratorium on energy service disconnections. While disconnections for non-payment have resumed, the company continues working with customers having difficulty paying their bills by providing assistance and payment plans to avoid disconnection.
PG&E distributed more than $540 million in relief to residential customers as part of two rounds of funding from the California Arrearage Payment Program. The company also launched the Arrearage Management Plan, which helps qualifying customers reduce unpaid balances through on-time payment and debt forgiveness. Customers can check eligibility by logging in to their PG&E account at pge.com or calling 800-743-5000.
PG&E has flexibility to extend bill due dates or arrange for a flexible payment plan. All customers are eligible to enroll in a 12-month pay plan, and participants who remain current on their plans are protected from collections and having their service interrupted for non-payment. Customers interested in extending their due date or arranging a pay plan are encouraged to visit pge.com or call 877-660-6789.
“We have the flexibility to create pay plans tailored to fit each customer’s unique situation and challenges. PG&E has done extensive outreach and distributed bill relief to residential customers throughout our service area, and we’re here to help customers get back on track,” said Davis.
Additional Resources to Help Manage Summer Energy Bills
In addition to financial and bill assistance resources, PG&E offers a variety of programs to help customers manage their summer energy costs:
- Personalized Rate Comparison supports customers by providing the best rate plan options for their household, which can help save money on energy bills.
- Budget Billing averages customers’ monthly energy costs to help monthly payment amounts remain more consistent, even if energy use changes significantly from season to season.
- Bill Forecast Alerts are notifications sent by email, text or phone notifying customers if their monthly bill is expected to exceed a specific amount set by the customer, based on how they are using energy.
- Home Energy Checkup is a free service that helps customers assess their energy use and gives customized savings tips.
- HomeIntel is a free energy saving program that includes a Smart Audit and a personal energy coach. Customers who have lived in their home for more than a year and have a SmartMeter installed are eligible to participate.
- Power Saver Rewards is a free program that rewards participants for temporarily reducing energy use on select hot summer days when the demand for electricity is high.
- SmartAC is a voluntary program that offers participants $120 off a new smart thermostat or $75 to enroll in the program in addition to a $25 annual incentive.
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I also suggest PG&E try lowering their rates. Cut the salaries of top executives and put the interests of the public above stock holders.
“In 2021 PG&E CEO Patricia Poppe was paid $51.2 million.”
Great, now we have to ‘finance’ our gas & electric!
Slashing their executive top salaries would translate to a decrease in customer’s bills and be more equitable.
Yup. PG&E had the highest paid CEO in the entire industry.
And I mean ‘way high’.
Thanks to record inflation numbers .40 kwh is the new norm, thanks Joe.
The goal is to make it easy to sign up for things that help them control customers but just try to access any of their touted customer savings programs that doesn’t help them more than it helps the customer. It’s easier to deal with the IRS. Much easier.
I have conspired to cut use since the 70’s, and, I hope my bill is the lowest one in the neighborhood, since I don’t use electricity unless I really need it…
I think solar is a scam, and owning your own personal battery/panel/generator setup is great for wealthy techies…
I am not rich enough to own an electric car or a personal power company, and the best way to control PG&E is to turn everything off when not using it.
Yup, going through it right now
PG&E is the biggest investor owned utility.
As summer heats up and home energy use increases in parts of California, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) urges eligible customers to consider finding a higher paying job, perhaps a second or third job, if necessary, or in an increasing number of cases, just plain get some kind of job, any kind of job, and then try real hard to figure out how to spend less on food, clothing, shelter and (cough-cough) entertainment, so that unpaid PG&E balances can be paid in full and we won’t have to disconnect your ass!
I think their entire billing system is a scam, especially if you won’t let them put a smart meter next to your feet.
Even gas stations don’t change their prices 3 or 4 times a day.
Set a fair price and screw your tiers.
Also, you have no right to my income information or buying it with bribes of lower billings.
If I’m not mistaken the tiers are about still shovelling money over to Enron. Yes- that was a scam and it still is. We recalled a sitting governor over that and yet it continues…and nobody even discusses it…weird!
Even on CARE our PG&E rates come to 24 cents/kwh. Rates in Eugene, OR are 9 cents/kwh. Rates in Connecticut are 12 cents/kwh. rates in the Bend, Oregon area are 7cents/kwh! Rates in Weaverville are 10,2 cents/kwh. PG&E is paying their top executives millions of dollars per year? PG&E is a major contributor every election cycle to DEM campaigns, especially Gavin Newsom in his recall vote. I’m saying it’s a conspiracy to rip us off …I’m saying it’s a fact. That money to the political campaigns and for paying those extremely well-paid executives is YOUR money. And mine too! If you aren’t pissed off then you’re not paying attention….
I’m not saying it’s a conspiracy. I’m saying it’s a fact. They are a monopoly that is supposed to be regulated by appointees of the governor- who they supply with heavy campaign donations. Stinks like old fish…but nobody says anything?
So does the CPUC stink, the New and the Last CPUC.
PG&E rates have doubled in the very recent past.
It is alarming.
If you go back over bills for the past year, the per kilowatt rate has skyrocketed.
We get notices in our bills saying that they are asking the PUC for increases, but they are just leaflets.
They seem like just perfunctory, required notices, but don’t really give clients any room for feedback.
I’ve written to all of my representatives – county, state and federal – asking if these post Covid increases are permanent and how to cope.
None have addressed the issue, other than to inform me of the IHEAP program, a charity that will help out ONCE A YEAR. That is not enough.
I am a disabled senior living on a fixed income.
My heating bills are out of reach.
By winter, I will have to either pay for heat or decide whether to buy food, or pay the mortgage.
PG&E needs to be reigned in.
It really should be taken over by the state, not continuing as a for profit entity.
Jared Huffman’s office suggested that the CPUC, California Public Utilities Commission, is considering making utility bills contingent on one’s income.
They are currently taking input on this idea.
They have a website.
Perhaps if many of us give input, we could affect a change.
Please. Write your representatives.
Many of them, especially the state representatives, Wood and the other guy, don’t seem to care. They are non responsive.
It seems they perceive their positions as cash cows, not as public servants.
Huffman and Madrone at least respond.
I get an email every day from PG&E, encouraging me to “lower my energy costs” by, you know, washing my clothes at 4 a.m. and being sure all my electronics are turned off when not in use. BFD. Program your heating/cooling system. This is all just PR. It’s perfectly sound advice (except for programing the heating/cooling system if you live in a big house and like to sleep at less than 65 degrees at night) but we’ve all heard it thousands of times before. Why not just squeeze the PR budget to a minimum and lower the !@#$%& rates? Maybe once a year send out a reminder. And — I’d suggest this to health insurance companies as well — stop spending gazillions on lobbying and advertising and just do your dang job. If your customers started loving your fair pricing and had confidence in your safety practices, you wouldn’t even need that big PR budget.
“If you would like to press one! Press one NOW!”
PG&E should change their name to FU&U.
Every time PG&E is find our rates go up!
It doesn’t hurt them one bit to burn down towns or cities
when they are like any other retailer, they charge you
the differents it cost them so they don’t lose a dime.
What a monopoly and we’re called customers?