PG&E Corporate Sustainability Report shows major 2020 investments in infrastructure, diversity and clean energy
The latest annual Corporate Sustainability Report from Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) shows that despite pandemic-induced hurdles, 2020 saw billions invested into infrastructure updates, progress made on the clean energy shift, and greater reliability and diversity efforts.
According to statistics tracked by the report, PG&E invested a total of $7.6 billion into enhancements for infrastructure that will aid it against wildfire mitigation, in particular, and enhance its safety and reliability in general. At the same time, the natural gas system was strengthened, and efforts to advance the shift to green energy helped customers avoid more than 769,000 tons of CO2.
In fact, PG&E now reports that approximately 85 percent of its electricity comes from greenhouse-gas free sources, putting it well ahead of the corporate curve nationwide. The company even began pushing heavily into the battery energy storage arena, awarding contracts for more than 1 GW of such sources to enhance sustainability and reliability.
“I am proud to say that in 2020, we continued to move forward on our sustainability goals, despite the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and some of the most extreme weather and wildfire conditions California has ever seen,” Patti Poppe, CEO of PG&E Corporation, said. “We are working every day to shrink our company’s carbon footprint, help customers reduce their own energy use, and adapt our gas and electric system to changing climate conditions.”
Other notable efforts included $3.88 billion — more than a third of the company’s total expenditures — put toward diverse suppliers last year. It also used 2020 to launch a new, multi-year Climate Vulnerability Assessment.
