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This is a press release from Pacific Gas and Electric Company:
As part of our ongoing efforts to help customers financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced [last week] service cuts will not resume this year. The moratorium on energy service disconnections put in place by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in March 2020 officially ends [last week] but service disconnections will not resume in 2021.
PG&E automatically enrolls all residential and small business customers with overdue balances over 60 days in new extended payment agreements. We are also closely monitoring the development and implementation of the California arrears payment program (CAPP) included in the 2021-2022 California State Budget. As part of the CAPP process, PG&E will not resume disconnections for residential and commercial customers eligible for CAPP until the CAPP program is finalized.
âWe have forged partnerships with local, state and utility leaders to ensure our customers in need have access to critical assistance as the impacts of the pandemic continue to evolve and the moratorium on disconnecting in the world. statewide [ended last week]. PG&E will not immediately begin shutting down the service for non-payment, âsaid Marlene Santos, Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer of PG&E.
The newly created CAPP program will provide financial assistance to California energy utility customers to help reduce overdue energy bill balances accumulated during the pandemic. Administered by the Department of Community Services and Development (CSD), the CAPP program is dedicating $ 1 billion in US federal bailout funding to meet California’s energy debts incurred from March 4, 2020 to June 15, 2021.
Utility customers do not need to apply to receive assistance under the CAPP program. If a customer’s account is eligible – 60 days or more late on payments – a credit will automatically be applied to part or all of the customer’s invoice, depending on availability of funds and combined customer needs. all utility customers.
For months, PG&E worked closely with CSD on the details of the implementation of the program. PG&E anticipates that CAPP funding will be applied directly to eligible client accounts in the first quarter of 2022.
To coincide with the end of the moratorium [last week], PG&E also automatically enrolled more than 450,000 eligible residential and small business customers in the new COVID-19 payment plan program this month. The new program automatically enrolls eligible customers 60 days past due into extended payment plans. Customers will automatically be enrolled on an ongoing basis based on their eligibility until September 2022 to avoid service disconnections. Customers automatically enrolled in the new extended payment plans will be eligible for CAPP funding.
Ways for Customers to Save on Energy BillsWe encourage customers who are having trouble paying their bills to learn more about the following programs. Some customers can enroll in various programs without affecting eligibility for the Extended Payment Plan or CAPP funding:
PG&E remains committed to providing support to customers during this transition, and we are here to help. Customers who have difficulty paying their bills should immediately contact PG&E at (800) 743-5000 or visit pge.com/covid19. Financial resources for business customers are available here.
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