PG&E Extends Moratorium On Service Disconnections

BAY AREA, CA — Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced Wednesday that it will extend the moratorium on utility service disconnections through Sept. 30. The moratorium was put in place by the California Public Utilities Commission in March 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"We believe extending the service disconnection moratorium for all customers allows for additional relief efforts from the state to take shape while protecting our customers who are financially struggling," said Marlene Santos, PG&E executive vice president and chief customer officer.

To help customers manage their bills, PG&E will auto-enroll eligible customers in new extended payment plans by the end of September to coincide with the potential ending of the moratorium.

For information about financial assistance as PG&E starts the transition to more normal billing operations later this year, customers can go to Pge.com/covid19.

Changes to COVID-19 Emergency Customer Protections

PG&E also said Wednesday that while the moratorium has been extended, other PG&E emergency customer protections put in place by the CPUC during the pandemic have expired.

PG&E has enrolled 300,000 customers in California Alternate Rates For Energy— CARE — since the onset of the pandemic in February 2020. The program provides income-qualified customers with a monthly discount, and customers must recertify within a certain timeframe. The earliest PG&E said it will remove a customer from CARE/FERA is Oct. 1, 2021, after a series of direct mail and targeted email communications.

PG&E also saw an increase in customers enrolled in its Medical Baseline Program under consumer protections and with non-permanent medical conditions as designated by their doctors. The utility had 192,000 customers enrolled in the program last year; this June, more than 256,000 customers were enrolled. PG&E said it will proactively communicate with Medical Baseline customers and remind them of their upcoming recertification, which can be done through the utility company's new online Medical Baseline medical practitioner portal.