PG&E’s electric rates are among the highest in the country after the utility giant’s latest round of hikes earlier this year. Power bills have just about doubled since 2019 for the company’s ratepayers, with average monthly bills hitting nearly $200. That’s without factoring in the cost of natural gas.
In an interview with NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai, PG&E CEO Patricia Poppe acknowledged public perception of the California utility giant “has been challenged.”
“I think the company is on a path to rebuild trust with the people that we serve,” Poppe said. “And in fact, our theme for this year is ‘trustworthy.’ We know that we need to earn the trust of our families, our friends, our neighbors that we serve as our customers. We have to earn that trust every day.”
As Bay Area families feel the pinch, however, PG&E raked in about $2 billion in profits last year. Poppe said those profits have been reinvested back into the company as it seeks to implement cost-cutting efficiencies, limit wildfire risk and improve reliability.
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“Our most current increases are based on some catch-up cost recoveries,” Poppe said. “That was necessary work to make our system safe. We also know that bills can come down and that’s what we’re working on. We see a path forward where prices can start to fall.”
Part of driving those costs down, Poppe said, should be rethinking state mandates on vegetation management. PG&E has been responsible for some of the largest wildfires in recent California history. However, Poppe said the recent rate hikes have helped the company decrease wildfire risk by 94% through investments in technology and infrastructure.
“We need to make sure that our system is safe and that does cost something,” Poppe said. “The good news is we see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Despite the promise of lower bills in the future, Poppe couldn’t say exactly when those savings would be passed on to customers or how much relief they should expect.
“We’re working on forecasting what those reductions are going to be,” Poppe said.
There’s plenty more from the wide-ranging conversation between Poppe and Mathai, delving into customer costs, what the company is doing about safety, and how the CEO justifies her hefty salary amid rising customer costs.
You can check out Mathai’s story in the video player above or watch an extended version of the interview in the video below.
