PG&E offers clients COVID-19 support
Compiled from a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. release:
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) offers additional support for customers experiencing hardships as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a reminder, PG&E has never charged late fees.
If a customer is experiencing financial hardships and has trouble paying their bill due to the economic impact of COVID-19, call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000. The utility offers flexible payment plans and has implemented a moratorium on service disconnections for non-payment. This suspension applies to both residential and small business customers and will remain in effect until further notice. PG&E will also suspend Medical Baseline removals. 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.
PG&E’s California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) Program gives almost 1.4 million income-qualified households discounts on their energy bills. Customers can apply online at pge. com/CARE. Qualifying customers will begin receiving the CARE program discount within their next billing cycle.
Separate from CARE, income-qualified households with three or more persons can apply for the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) Program for an 18% discount on their electric bill.
The federally-funded Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides financial assistance to help offset eligible household energy costs, including heating, cooling and home weatherization expenses. To learn more, dial 211 for LIHEAP income guidelines and a list of participating agencies.
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. Certification by a doctor is required.
No disruption in gas or electric service is anticipated due to the public health crisis. For more information, please visit www.pge.com/covid19 to read more about PG&E’s response to the virus.