PG&E Supports Customers Impacted by Recent Lightning-Sparked Wildfires

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As part of its commitment to help communities recover from the August wildfires in Northern California, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has outlined a series of billing and service modifications available to support customers in impacted areas.

“PG&E is committed to supporting our customers during this difficult time. For our customers who recently lost their homes or businesses to wildfires, we are offering additional help with billing, disconnections, reconnections and more. We will be by your side and will continue to support you if you choose to rebuild,” said Laurie Giammona, PG&E Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer.

The following are some of the actions PG&E has taken to support customers who lost their home or business as a result of the recent lightning-sparked wildfires:

Billing Support: As part of its comprehensive disaster billing and credit policy, PG&E will:

• Stop estimated energy usage for billing attributed to the time period when the home/unit was unoccupied as a result of the emergency;
• Discontinue billing for destroyed homes or businesses; and
• Prorate any monthly access charge or minimum charges.

Suspend Disconnections: For residential and small-business customers, disconnections for non-payment have been suspended, as well as associated fees.

Credit Support: PG&E is committed to providing customers gas and electric service regardless of their ability to pay during this difficult time. PG&E already does not charge residential and small-business customers deposits or reconnection fees.

Flexible Payment Plans: Once wildfire-impacted customers start receiving gas and electric service again, flexible payment plans are available.

Bill Assistance Programs

In addition, PG&E offers additional programs for customers who qualify to help save money on their PG&E bill:

California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) Program: Qualified households can save 20 percent or more each month on their energy bill.

Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) Program: Separate from CARE, income-qualified households with three or more people can apply for a monthly discount on their electric bill.

Relief for Energy Assistance through Community Help (REACH): Provides income-qualified customers with financial assistance during times of hardship. Customers impacted by the wildfires are eligible for financial assistance. Certain limitations may apply.

Medical Baseline: Residential customers who have additional energy needs due to certain qualifying medical conditions can receive a lower rate on monthly energy bills. There are no income qualifications. Visit www.pge.com/medicalbaseline for more information.

Dedicated Support Contact

For customers who choose to rebuild, they will be assigned a dedicated member of the PG&E Community Rebuild Team through the “Customer Connections” portal, who will provide the following:

In-Person and Online Support: PG&E has dedicated service support for customers to initiate and track new and temporary electric service installation requests through www.pge.com/cco.

Expediting Service Requests: Expediting move-in and move-out service requests. PG&E is also offering the ability to re-establish service under a prior rate schedule.

No Temporary Service Fees: PG&E will waive fees for establishing temporary service for rebuilding purposes.

For more information, please visit pge.com/consumer-protections. PG&E is continuing to work across the company to review policies and procedures to ensure it is supporting and providing relief to customers who were impacted by wildfires.

PG&E’s customer service personnel are available any time of day through PG&E’s dedicated Building and Renovation line. Call 877-743-7782 and push #4 for wildfire victim support.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with more than 23,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.