Sharing Progress in Building a Safer, More Sustainable Energy Future for Customers, PG&E Issues Annual Corporate Sustainability Report

By: Pacific Gas and Electric Company via Business Wire

August 02, 2022 at 13:00 PM EDT

Report Highlights ‘Inflection Point’ for Company, with Commitments to Underground Powerlines and Become Climate Positive

Today, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) released its annual Corporate Sustainability Report, which outlines major strides the company has made in safety and environmental stewardship, while working toward the “triple bottom line” of serving people, the planet, and California’s prosperity.

“Last year was a major inflection point in PG&E’s long history. Facing historic wildfire conditions, we launched unprecedented initiatives to reduce the risk of wildfires, including efforts to reimagine our electric system by undergrounding 10,000 miles of powerlines in the areas most at risk. We also began envisioning our plan to help roll back the impacts of climate change, which was detailed in the bold climate commitments we unveiled last month,” said Patti Poppe, CEO of PG&E Corporation.

Committed to Climate Action in California

The comprehensive online report highlights PG&E’s ambitious climate plan, released in June, that will see the company achieve significant emissions reductions by 2030, reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, and become “climate positive” by 2050, or actively removing more carbon from the environment than it emits.

Using statistics and stories, the report also details meaningful action PG&E took in 2021 on clean energy adoption, clean transportation, and energy storage. These actions include:

Providing customers with electricity that was more than 90% greenhouse-gas-emissions free, with about 50% from state-qualified renewable resources.
Awarding contracts for more than 3,300 MW of battery energy storage to be deployed through 2024.
Reaching 600,000 private solar interconnections, more than any other U.S. utility.
Reaching nearly 5,000 installed charging ports for electric vehicles, 39% of which are in disadvantaged communities.
Interconnecting PG&E’s first renewable natural gas project, a first-of-its-kind system bridging dairies and PG&E gas pipelines.

Ongoing Commitment to Reduce Wildfire Risk

The report also details several ways PG&E is taking a leading role in reducing wildfire risk across its service area, including:

Committing to a “game-changing” investment to underground 10,000 miles of powerlines as a long-term solution to preventing wildfires.
Launching the Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS) program, which allows for automatic shutdown of electric lines if the system senses a problem. As a result, California Public Utilities Commission-reportable ignitions went down 80% on EPSS-enabled circuits versus the past three-year average.
Making the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program more targeted and focused and lowering the number of customers impacted by 88% compared to 2020.
Meeting its major Wildfire Mitigation Plan commitments, including hardening over 200 line-miles and installing over 300 weather stations.

Co-creating Solutions for a Safe, Prosperous, Sustainable Future

The investments detailed in the report demonstrate PG&E’s commitment toward a safe, reliable, and affordable energy system, while supporting economic vitality and job creation within PG&E’s hometowns. The company also remains focused on helping to ensure that equity and inclusion remain at the forefront of California’s energy transition.

In 2021, PG&E continued to engage with diverse groups of stakeholders, including environmental and sustainability groups, community organizations, local and tribal governments, academia, and policymakers to envision solutions that will lead to safer, more sustainable outcomes for customers.

“We know that our success will require involving all our stakeholders in the goals that we set and collaborating with them to find the right solutions for achieving results. Our external Sustainability Advisory Council played an instrumental role in helping us set ambitious new climate goals and reinforced the need for broad community engagement as we chart a path to a more equitable and affordable energy future. As we work to reimagine our electric system, our new Undergrounding Advisory Group is giving us broad perspectives—across agencies, local and tribal governments, labor, and other sectors—to help co-create what will become the country’s most modern and expansive underground electric system,” said Carla Peterman, PG&E Corporation Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer.

To view the Corporate Sustainability Report, visit www.pgecorp.com/sustainability.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.