Keeping Local Restaurants Cooking: 77 Restaurants to Receive $5,000 Resilience Grants, Just in Time for the Holidays

The PG&E Corporation Foundation Supporting Small Restaurants for Third Consecutive Year

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Just in time for the holidays, locally-owned Northern and Central California restaurants will receive a financial boost. The California Restaurant Foundation (CRF) and The PG&E Corporation Foundation (PG&E Foundation) are awarding grants to invest in equipment upgrades, workforce training and more — all intended to help increase long-term business success. 

The PG&E Foundation's $900,000 charitable contribution to CRF this year will fund $5,000 grants to 77 hometown restaurants in 24 counties in Pacific Gas and Electric Company's (PG&E) service area, as well as operating support for CRF. This is the second round of grants announced this year following those announced in June.

The PG&E Foundation's contribution to CRF's Restaurants Care Resilience Fund current grant cycle will help grantees invest in their business and people. Grants were made available to California resident restaurant owners with fewer than five units and less than $3 million in revenue, and prioritized minority- and women-owned businesses.

"PG&E and The PG&E Corporation Foundation have provided invaluable and unwavering support for the Restaurants Care Resilience Fund since its inception in 2021, which has led to hundreds of independent restaurant owners across Northern and Central California fortifying their businesses for the long haul," said Alycia Harshfield, Executive Director of California Restaurant Foundation. "We are thrilled to have been able to open applications for a second time this year and again award $5,000 grants to owners looking to enhance their restaurants via technology adoption, equipment upgrades, employee onboarding and retention, or overcoming unforeseen hardships."

In 2021 and 2022, PG&E and PG&E Foundation's charitable contribution totaled $1.4 million and supported 367 restaurants with grants. With this year's contribution, the combined total is now $2.3 million supporting a total of 521 restaurants. You can watch videos of past grant winners in PG&E's service area here.

"We are grateful for our ongoing partnership with the California Restaurant Foundation. PG&E is proud to have helped support more than 500 restaurants within our service area since 2021, including these new grant recipients right before the holidays. Our hometown restaurants — many family-owned and operated by local residents with deep roots in the neighborhoods they serve — are the hearts and souls of our communities. We're privileged to be able to help with the long-term success of these businesses so they can continue to be the hubs and gathering spots for our friends and neighbors. When these small businesses thrive, our communities thrive," said PG&E Corporation Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer Carla Peterman.

Assisting Small and Medium Businesses

PG&E remains committed to providing ways for its small and medium business customers to save energy and money. Here are some ways PG&E is helping its customers:

• Contacting business customers who would save money by choosing a better rate plan for their operations — projected to save customers over $9.5 million this year. Utilize PG&E's online rate tools to run your own analysis at pge.com/rateanalysis.
• Providing COVID-19 relief and support information to all small business customers, including PG&E no-cost energy assessment, resources and external support for businesses such as California state programs at pge.com/opportunities.
• Launching a NEW energy efficiency program that provides assessments and upgrades at no-cost: simplifiedsavingsprogram.com.
• Increasing outreach to small business customers highlighting payment support and energy-savings programs through email campaigns, PG&E's Energy Advisors, and direct mail.
• Conducting outreach to eligible customers to enroll in a discounted rate for businesses struggling to stay open.
• Offering rebate and financing solutions to help small business customers realize sustained cost savings. 

PG&E helps customers reduce costs and improve energy efficiency and resiliency with various programs and tools. In the past five years, these programs have helped small and medium business customers save 166 million kWh of electricity — a savings of $33 million.

For more information on PG&E Small and Medium Business customer support visit pge.com/smbsupport.

For more information on the California Restaurant Foundation, Restaurants Care, or the Restaurant Resilience Fund, visit restaurantscare.org.

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 www.pge.com/ and http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/.

About The PG&E Corporation Foundation
The PG&E Corporation Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, separate from PG&E and sponsored by PG&E Corporation.

SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company