Peninsula Utility Extends $100 COVID-19 Bill Relief Credit

REDWOOD CITY, CA — San Mateo County’s official electricity provider announced Tuesday it has extended a $100 bill relief credit to additional low-income customers who have struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic and has expanded the program to include additional customers.

Peninsula Clean Energy said the credit extension is part of a broader package of efforts effort to address the current crisis and ensure longer term electricity reliability in which it is investing upwards of $31 million.

The extension brings the total investment of this program to $3.6 million.

The one-time on-bill credit will automatically be applied to approximately 4,400 additional San Mateo County customers who have been covered under California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) or Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) rate plans as of May 27 in the addition to the roughly 30,000 customers who received the bill credit in April.

Peninsula Clean Energy CEO Jan Pepper said its Board of Directors approved extending the initial credit to take into account the thousands of San Mateo County residents added to the CARE and FERA rolls in recent weeks.

“As this pandemic continues, our most vulnerable customers should never have to worry about keeping their power on at home,” Pepper said.

The utility’s plan to help customers during the pandemic includes:

• Investing $10 million in programs to improve energy resiliency, including clean backup batteries for medically vulnerable residents and at critical facilities
• Continuing to save customers $18 million annually by providing rates 5 percent lower than those offered by PG&E
• Continuing Peninsula Clean Energy’s long-standing practice of not returning delinquent accounts to PG&E for collection

Those interested in qualifying for CARE’s monthly discount of at least 20 percent on gas and electricity or FERA’s monthly discount of 18 percent on electricity can learn more and apply on PG&E’s website.