Supporting Our Customers: PG&E Providing More Community Resources for Public Safety Power Shutoffs This Year
April 19 2021 - 4:30PM
Business Wire
More support available to customers before,
during and after PSPS events
As part of its ongoing efforts to keep customers and communities
safe, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has added
numerous resources to further support customers and communities
before, during and after Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS).
During severe weather, PG&E may need to turn off power for
public safety as high winds can cause tree branches or debris to
contact energized electric lines, which could damage electrical
equipment and cause a major wildfire.
“We understand that being without power is a hardship on our
customers,” said Marlene Santos, EVP of Customer Care and Chief
Customer Officer. “That is why we are continuing to listen to our
customers and respond to their feedback by providing the
information and tools they need to help lessen the impact of PSPS
events.”
More PSPS Resources for 2021 To continue to support
customers before, during and after PSPS events, PG&E is:
- Refining customer notifications to provide better
information in 16 languages about when power will be turned off and
back on.
- Providing Address Alerts, which allow customers and
non-account holders to receive notifications about PSPS events for
any address they care about.
- Continuing to expand the network of event-ready,
ADA-accessible indoor Community Resource Center sites, which
include basic medical equipment charging, device charging, Wi-Fi
and other amenities.
- Expanding meal replacement resources from local food
banks to cover every county likely to be impacted by a PSPS event.
A combination of perishable and nonperishable food will be
available up until three days after restoration from a PSPS
event.
- Providing customers who depend on well water pumps and live
in high fire-threat areas with rebates for purchasing a
qualified portable power generator through the Generator Rebate
Program.
- Helping communities plan and implement their own electric
microgrid through the Community Microgrid Enablement
Program.
Additional Support for Customers with Medical and Independent
Living Needs To further support customers in the access and
functional needs (AFN) population, PG&E is providing additional
resources including:
- Growing PG&E’s network of community-based organization
partnerships focused on serving customers in the AFN community
with accessible transportation resources, hotel accommodations and
food stipends, emergency preparedness outreach and education and
Medical Baseline Program enrollment.
- Providing a total of 11,500 portable batteries to customers
with medical or independent living needs through both the
portable battery program and community-based organization
partnerships, cumulative over two years (9,000 portable
batteries to low-income Medical Baseline customers in high
fire-threat areas impacted by two or more PSPS events and an
additional 2,500 portable batteries to customers with medical or
independent living needs).
- Expanding notifications for those with medical needs by
allowing customers to self-certify as being medically
vulnerable.
- Providing additional meals to seniors impacted by a PSPS
event through a Meals on Wheels partnership.
Continuing to Build a Safer System We are continuing to
make our system safer and more resilient to reduce PSPS events for
our customers and communities. There is no single solution to
wildfire safety, which is why we are continuing to evolve and
improve all our wildfire safety programs including:
- Meeting and exceeding state vegetation standards across
1,800 miles to manage trees and other vegetation located near
power lines that could cause a wildfire or power outage.
- Continuing to upgrade the electric grid by hardening at
least 180 miles of power lines to reduce wildfire risks.
- Installing 250 sectionalizing devices to narrow the scope of
PSPS events so fewer customers are without power.
- Piloting new technologies that detect threats to the
electric grid and rapidly reduce or shut off power thus
reducing the need for larger PSPS events.
- Employing new risk models to better pinpoint our
wildfire safety prevention efforts.
Online Customer Resources
Site Links
Program Description
pge.com/wildfiresafety
For information about PG&E’s Community
Wildfire Safety Program
pge.com/weather
Live weather information, a 7-day PSPS
potential lookahead and images from PG&E’s high-definition
cameras deployed in high fire-threat areas
safetyactioncenter.pge.com
Information on keeping your family, home
and business safe during a PSPS
pge.com/backuppower
Information on backup power options,
safety tips, financing options, a marketplace to search major
backup power retailers and more
pge.com/medicalbaseline
Learn more about PG&E’s Medical
Baseline Program for those who rely on power for medical
devices
pge.com/addressalerts
Sign up for Address Alerts to receive PSPS
notifications for any address important to you outside of your
billing address
About PG&E Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a
subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined
natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million
people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central
California. For more information, visit pge.com and
pge.com/news.
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