PG&E Offers Bill Flexibility For Coronavirus-Affected Residents

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is offering billing and service support to customers experiencing hardships due to the coronavirus crisis. The utility, as well, has a variety of financial-assistance programs, and estimates some 3,700 eligible residents from Marin County are not signed up and missing out on discounts that could by key during these financially trying times.

"There are approximately 12,400 customers in Marin County who are currently enrolled in the (CARE) program," the company said, "and there are an estimated 3,700 customers in the county who quality for the program and have not yet enrolled."

PG&E’s California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) Program gives income-qualified households discounts on their energy bills. Customers can online here -- a process that takes about five minutes, the company said. Qualifying customers will receive the CARE discount within the next billing cycle.

Another possibility for residents is the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) Program, which offers an 18 percent discount on electric bills for income-qualified households with three or more persons. Follow this link to learn more.

As for customers affected by COVID-19 pandemic fallout, PG&E is implementing a series of billing and service modifications effective immediately to keep lights on and gas flowing to homes.

“PG&E knows this is an unsettling and trying time and we want to reassure our customers they are not alone," said Laurie Giammona, PG&E’s chief customer officer and senior vice president. "PG&E is taking swift action to ensure that our customers experiencing hardship as a result of COVID-19 have access to a variety of resources and expanded programs to help manage their energy use and their monthly bills.”

Among the new billing and service modifications from PG&E:

• Suspend service disconnections for non-payment and waive new service deposit requirements for residential and small business;
• Implement flexible payment plan options;
• Provide additional support for low-income and medical baseline customers.

Customers experiencing financial hardships and having trouble paying their bills can call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000.

PG&E also has implemented a moratorium on service disconnections for non-payment — a suspension that applies to both residential and small business customers and will remain in effect until further notice.

In addition, customers on the Medical Baseline program will not be asked to re-certify through a doctor or other eligible medical professionals for up to one year, company officials said.

Residential customers requiring electricity-powered medical equipment may qualify for Medical Baseline, which is not based on income. Per month, eligible customers can receive an extra baseline allotment of 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity and/or 25 therms of gas.

No disruption in gas or electric service is anticipated due to the public health crisis, PG&E said.

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