Thanks to California Climate Credit, PG&E Residential Customers Will See Lower Bills This Month
April 23 2021 - 01:44PM
Business Wire
The $41.82
Bill Credit, Part of the State’s Efforts to Fight Climate Change,
Arrives as Financial Impacts of Pandemic Continue for
Many
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 Assistance Program (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
Baseline program online. The program provides customers an
additional monthly allotment of energy at the lowest price on the
current rate.
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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