California Climate Credit lowers PG&E residential customers’ bills this month

SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) residential customer bills will be lower this month thanks to the California Climate Credit.  

The credit created by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), is part of the state’s efforts to fight climate change. The credit will lower bills by $41.82 for PG&E residential customers receiving both natural gas and electric service this month. For natural gas-only residential customers the credit will be $24.62, and for electric-only residential customers, the credit will be $17.20

California requires power plants, natural gas providers and other large industries that emit greenhouse gases to buy carbon pollution permits from auctions managed by the California Air Resources Board. The Climate Credit is customers’ share of the payments from the state’s program.

In 2020, the CPUC accelerated the distribution of the Climate Credit in response to increased at-home energy usage due to the Governor’s March 19, 2020, stay-at-home order. This year, the CPUC returned the distribution of the electric residential credit to the standard twice-annual April and October schedule.

Customers do not need to do anything to receive the credit, it will automatically appear as a line item “CA Climate Credit” or “California Climate Credit” on their bill with the amount of the credit.

Though the credit will offset bills this month, PG&E recognizes some customers continue to struggle financially as lingering impacts of the pandemic remain.

For Customers with Past-Due Balances: ‘We’re here to help’

As the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic start to subside, PG&E reminds customers with past-due balances to explore available financial-assistance programs now, before the emergency customer protections put in place during the pandemic end on June 30, 2021. In place since March 2020, these emergency customer protections included suspending service disconnections for customers with unpaid bills.

Customers are encouraged to act now and not wait until protections expire if they are behind on payments. Numerous programs, tools and tips are available. Please call us today at (800) 743-5000 if you have an outstanding balance. Translated support in over 250 additional languages is available at that phone number.

We have been working with customers with past-due balances and will continue these efforts months after the protections expire. Since March 2020, more than 1.6 million payment plans have been created for residential and commercial customers.

Proactive contact with customers during the pandemic has saved customers more than $5 million just by changing their rate plan.

Here are some of the ways we are assisting customers as the COVID-19 protections end:

• Staggering the restart of the collections and disconnection process with a grace period after the protections end to support customers facing uncertainty.
• Helping income eligible renters who have experienced a financial hardship due to COVID-19 and have past due rent, or landlords who have experienced a loss in income because of unpaid rent, to find financial assistance programs with their utility bills through federal programs such as the California COVID-19 Rent Relief program.
• The recertification and post-enrollment actions that customers will need to take to qualify for the California Rates for Energy Program (CARE), the Family Electric Rate AssistanceProgram (FERA) and the Medical Baseline Program will be spread out over the rest of 2021.
• Providing financial assistance to help offset eligible household energy costs including heating, cooling and home weatherization expenses through the federally-funded Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). To learn more, dial 2-1-1 or 1-866-675-6623 for LIHEAP income guidelines and a list of participating agencies.
• PG&E will launch a new medical practitioner portal for the Medical Baseline program. To simplify the enrollment and recertification process, the portal will enable qualified medical practitioners to certify a customer’s eligibility for the Medical Bashttps://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/save-energy-money/help-paying-your-bill/energy-reduction-and-weatherization/liheap/liheap.pageeline program online. The program provides customers an additional monthly allotment of energy at the lowest price on the current rate.