PG&E Automatically Enrolling Qualified Customers Who Are 60 Days Behind On Energy Bills In Payment Plans

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) will auto-enroll eligible customers who are 60 days behind on energy bills in new extended payment arrangements by the end of September 2021.

The new program coincides with the ending of the service-disconnection moratorium which is part of the COVID-19 emergency customer protections in place since March 2020.

“We are here to help customers during these times of increasing financial hardships. We want as many customers who are eligible to take advantage of these programs. Even as COVID-19 customer protections come to an end, our support won’t. The new payment plans were created to assist customers pay down their past-due balance over time and protect them from disconnection of service due to non-payment,” said Marlene Santos, PG&E executive vice president and chief customer officer.

Residential and small business customers with a PG&E bill at least 60 days past due will automatically be enrolled over the next few weeks starting with their September bill.

The monthly payment plan amount for residential customers will be their outstanding balance equally divided over 24 months. For example, if a residential customer owes $1,200 the payment arrangement would be $50 a month. Payment installations for small business customers will be calculated based on no more than 10% of their average bill (5% for customers in disadvantaged communities over the past 24 months.

Residential customers who miss more than two payments, and small business customers who miss one payment within a 12-month period, will be removed from the payment plan. Gas and/or electric service may be disrupted approximately 45 days later unless payment is received.