PG&E Summer Readiness

June 26, 2024, PG&E held its Summer Readiness Event, which was live-streamed from PG&E’s Hazard Awareness & Warning Center in San Ramon. The event provided information on a temporary 9% electric rate decrease that will help lower electric bills during the hot summer months, and actions to help ensure safe and reliable electric service this summer when wildfire risk and energy demand typically peak.

Here are some of the key points presented at the event:

Temporary Rate Decrease & Customer Support Programs:

PG&E residential electric rates will go down 9% starting July 1. This temporary rate change is expected to last for at least a few months, which will help customers during the hottest months of the year when electric bills are usually higher due to air conditioner use. The savings could be higher for customers in hotter parts of California.
PG&E offers savings programs to help provide immediate relief to qualifying customers and offers free resources/tools to help all customers.

Summer Wildfire Season & Heat-Related Outages:

The hot summer months bring increased wildfire risk to California, and PG&E is focused on strengthening our system and reducing wildfire risk through innovative situational awareness tools and technologies, operational risk reduction actions, and resiliency measures. We call these our layers of protection.
Customers can stay connected through our online resources, such as our wildfire safety page, our partnership with the California Network of 211, information about how to sign up for our Report It App, and emergency planning tools through our Safety Action Center.  
At PG&E, we prepare for summer heat before it arrives. Our goals are to help prevent heat-related outages and restore power faster when needed.

Summer Energy Demand & Demand Response Programs:

California is better prepared than in recent years to handle increased summer customer energy demand, primarily due to significant new clean energy resources added to our grid in the last few years.
Last year, PG&E delivered 100% greenhouse gas-free electricity to our residential and small business customers. Because some renewable resources, like solar and wind, aren’t always available (like when the sun isn’t shining, or the wind isn’t blowing), battery energy storage is key to helping us integrate renewables like solar and wind onto the grid. This reduces our reliance on fossil fuel generation and enhances overall grid reliability for our customers.
An important way we help to manage customer energy demand during peak summer periods is through our Demand Response Programs. These programs are designed to enable customers to help reduce energy use on the grid during peak demand. Most of these programs also offer customers financial incentives to reduce their energy use during high-demand periods.