By Jonathan Marshall
Average PG&E residential bills for gas and electric service are among the lowest in the nation, according to industry figures compiled by leading trade associations.
PG&E’s residential electric customers paid less than the average for any region in the country in 2012, the most recent year for which comparative data are available. Their average bill of $88.82 per month — less than $3 a day to power refrigerators, computers, televisions and other appliances — was 17 percent less than the national average of $106.38. Customers in the South Atlantic region paid the highest average bills, at $121.08 per month.
The average PG&E gas customer paid $38.29 per month, or just over a dollar a day, for gas to heat their homes, water, stoves and clothes dryers. That was 27 percent less than the national average of $52.33. Customers in the New England states topped the ranking with average bills of $81.50.
PG&E serves about 16 million people in Northern and Central California, or about one of every 20 Americans. It is California’s largest energy utility.
“Providing safe, reliable, and affordable service is our focus every day,” said Helen Burt, PG&E’s senior vice president and chief customer officer. “We’re pleased that our customers’ average bills are below the national average, and we’re going to keep working to find ways to help them save even more.”
PG&E customers enjoy low bills for several reasons in addition to the region’s relatively temperate climate, which limits the need for winter heating and summer cooling.
Energy-efficiency programs championed by the utility, and by the state of California, save customers hundreds of millions of dollars a year, while preventing the emission of millions of tons of greenhouse gases. New online tools offer PG&E customers the ability to track their energy use over time and compare it to usage by similar customers in the same community. By helping customers better understand and manage their energy use, such tools can help keep bills in check.
In addition, increases in PG&E’s gas and electric rates — the charges per therm or kilowatt-hour used by customers — have been gradual over time, growing slightly slower than the overall price level since the start of the last decade. In contrast, the price of gasoline, another essential form of energy, has soared about 170 percent since 2001, far outpacing inflation.
Pending decisions by the California Public Utilities Commission might increase PG&E gas and electric rates this year or next, but typical residential bills should remain well below national averages.
Keeping rates in check is always a challenge, especially in California, where utilities must pass along to customers the cost of various “public purpose programs.” These include the programs to steeply discount rates for low-income customers and to incent customer installation of solar rooftop systems. Electric rates also face upward pressure from state mandates to purchase ever greater amounts of renewable energy, which costs a significant premium over traditional sources.
To limit rate increases, PG&E works continuously to adopt more efficient technology and work methods. Recent examples include initiatives to lower sourcing costs through alliance partnerships, reduce maintenance costs by installing electrical equipment specially adapted to local climate zones, streamline reading of older analog meters by making routes more efficient, and invest in state-of-the-art technology to locate gas leaks more quickly than ever before.
The results are paying off for customers in many ways beyond controlling costs, including safer and more reliable service. For example, PG&E customers experienced fewer outage minutes in 2013 than ever before in the company’s history, thanks to investments in modernizing the grid. PG&E’s gas operations recently received two international certifications for best-in-class operational standards, awarded by the independent, internationally recognized auditor, Lloyd’s Register.
Email Jonathan Marshall at jonathan.marshall@pge.com.
