PG&E Customers Earned More Than $43 Million In Bill Credits Through Winter Gas Savings Program

SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today announced that its Winter Gas Savings program paid out more than $43 million to nearly two million customers in February and March of this year as a reward for conserving natural gas. Bill credits paid to customers this year exceeded those paid in 2012 by almost $2 million.

Customers who reduced their gas usage in December and January compared to the previous three winters (adjusted for weather) automatically received a credit of up to 20 percent on their gas bills for those months. Qualifying customers started seeing that credit on their gas bills in February.

Over 1.9 million customers, or half of all who were eligible, earned bill credits by reducing their gas usage. About 60 percent of those who qualified received the maximum 20 percent bill credit.

Through their efforts to reduce gas usage during December and January, customers saved more than 81 million therms of natural gas, or 18 percent relative to usage in previous winters.

"Together with customers, we have saved a phenomenal amount of natural gas over the lifetime of PG&E's Winter Gas Savings program – more than 580 million therms," said Steve Malnight, PG&E's Vice President of Customer Energy Solutions. "PG&E customers took important steps to save gas and earn bill credits through the program, and that behavior will help them continue to save energy and money well into the future."

In PG&E's service area, Calaveras, Kings and San Bernardino counties had the highest share of qualifying customers – 67 percent – receive the maximum credit of 20 percent. Qualifying customers in each of these counties managed to save around 20 percent relative to usage in previous winters. In Colusa County, where 64 percent of qualifying customers received the maximum credit, qualifying customers overall managed to conserve a remarkable 25 percent compared to previous winters, the highest savings rate in PG&E's service area.

Customers were able to track their progress toward earning a bill credit online through PG&E's Facebook-enabled Winter Gas Savings Progress Tracker application. During the 2013 program, more than 100,000 customers used the Tracker application.

Although the winter months are behind us, customers can continue to save by investing in any of the hundreds of energy-efficient products made more affordable by PG&E's year-round rebates. Customers can also reduce their gas usage and energy bill with a few simple tips:

• Reduce shower times by half to save as much as a third on water heating costs.
• Set the water heater to 120 degrees or the "normal" setting.
• Wash clothes in cold water instead of hot.
• Open blinds and drapes on sunny days.
• Microwave small amounts of food instead of heating them up in the oven.

The Winter Gas Savings program was established in 2005 to help conserve natural gas supply in the wake of the supply squeeze caused by Hurricane Katrina. The program came to a successful close in January.

For more than 30 years, PG&E has built a track record of working with customers to deliver cost and energy savings through a diverse array of energy efficiency programs, services and campaigns. A key factor in this shared success is a state regulatory structure known as decoupling that creates and aligns incentives for utilities to drive energy efficiency. As a result, PG&E and its customers have avoided the release of more than 180 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and California's per capita electricity use has remained relatively flat, while nationwide electricity use has increased by almost 50 percent.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to 15 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/ and www.pgecurrents.com.

SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)