Eligible PG&E customers moving to time-of-use rates

Feb. 8—As part of a multi-year, statewide energy policy to create a cleaner energy future for California, Pacific Gas and Electric Company will move approximately 60,830 eligible residential electric customers currently on a tiered rate plan called E-1 to a time-of-use (TOU) rate plan in April.

According to a release issued by the utility, the transition to this time-of-use rate plan occurs by geographical region and affects approximately 2.5 million customers in PG&E's service area in stages including 6,226 in Sutter County, 3,878 in Yuba County and 1,513 in Colusa County.

"All California investor-owned electric utilities are required to automatically transition customers to the time-of-use rate plan to support a cleaner, healthier, and more reliable energy grid," read the release. "PG&E does not profit from this change. Customers can choose an alternate Time-of-Use rate plan or another rate plan, including the tiered rate plan, at any time. Customers enrolled in the Medical Baseline program will not be part of the automatic transition."

Affected customers should have received a series of notifications by mail starting in December to allow them ample time to make a choice if they prefer another rate plan.

According to the release, customers who automatically transition to this time-of-use rate plan will receive risk-free bill protection for the first 12 months on the delivery portion of the bill. If a customer pays more on the time-of-use rate plan than they would have on their current rate plan, PG&E will also automatically credit the customer the difference for the first year on the generation side.

Customers on these rate plans can choose to shift and reduce some energy use to lower-cost time periods every day, including weekends and holidays. The hours of 4-9 p.m. are higher priced peak times, according to the release, and all other times are lower priced off-peak rates.

Environmental advocacy groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) support the transition to TOU rates as the plans help build healthier communities.

"TOU rates help Californians take advantage of less expensive, cleaner and more plentiful electricity during periods when a greater share of renewable energy is flowing through the grid. Combined with energy efficiency, electrification, and demand response programs, TOU helps customers reduce energy costs and their carbon footprints by using appliances when more emissions-free electricity is available," said Alejandra Mejia Cunningham, Building Decarbonization Advocate, NRDC.

Starting in 2018, approximately 150,000 residential customers from across PG&E's service area representing diversity in climate, household size and energy use were randomly selected as part of the first phase of transitions, according to the release, and 80 percent of those customers stayed on the new time-of-use rate plan for more than a year.

For more information, visit www.pge.com/toutransition.