Pacific Gas and Electric Company will transfer customers to time-of-use rate plan

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) will transfer roughly 2.5 million eligible residential electric customers in Northern and Central California to a new time-of-use rate plan to conserve energy.

Specifically, they will be moved to a time-of-use rate plan between April 2021 and March 2022. On the time-of-use rate plan, customers are encouraged to shift some energy use to times when rates are lower, demand is lower and renewable resources, like solar and wind power, are most plentiful.

“We understand every household is unique, and so is the way they use energy. PG&E is committed to helping customers choose the electric rate plan that best meets their needs. Time-of-Use rate plans give customers greater control over their monthly bill while supporting California’s clean energy goals,” said Laurie Giammona, PG&E senior vice president and chief customer officer.

Customers who transition to this rate plan will receive bill protection for the first 12 months, so if a customer pays more on the time-of-use rate plan than they would have on their current rate plan, PG&E will automatically credit the customer the difference.

PG&E residential electric customers in Mendocino and Sonoma counties will be the first to transition to the new plan in April 2021.

On time-of-use rate plans, customers can have more control over their energy bills if they can move some usage to lower-priced, off-peak times. The hours of 4 to 9 p.m. are higher priced or peak times. All other times are lower priced or off-peak times.

All investor-owned electric utilities in the state are required to automatically transition customers to the Time-of-Use rate plan to support a cleaner, smarter, and more reliable energy grid per a plan approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in July 2015.