South San Francisco, CA June 11, 2021 From PGE
NOTE: The City of South San Francisco sent out a community alert today, reminding residents that the existing COVID-19 customer protections for PG&E expire on July 1, 2021. Below is the information from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. website – be sure to check PGE website regularly for updates.
Customers May Qualify for Several Different Financial Assistance Programs at Once
Apply or Enroll Now, Don’t Wait for Summer
Customers who have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic can now find new and updated information and web resources on various programs available to those who are behind on their bills and/or needing financial assistance due to the ongoing pandemic by going to pge.com/covid19.
PG&E’s updated customer support website, launched earlier this month, provides information on all the financial assistance and support programs currently available to qualified customers in one easy-to-use page.
The Get Help with Past Due Bills portions of the page points to a variety of financial assistance programs and payment plan arrangement support, including:
- Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) offers up to $1,000 to pay eligible household energy costs.
- Relief for Energy Assistance through Community Help (REACH) Program offers one-time financial assistance to qualified customers with past-due bills.
- Arrearage Management Plan (AMP) offers up to $8,000 in unpaid balance forgiveness, if a customer is enrolled in the California Alternate Rates for Energy Program (CARE) or Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) Program (FERA), owes a specific bill amount and are more than 90 days past due.
- Payment Arrangement Plans offers flexible payment plans to spread balance out, up to 12 months or choose an extension allowing full payment later.
The Find Ways to Reduce Future Energy Bills section links customers to applications for ongoing monthly discounts as part of the CARE and FERA programs as well as the Energy Savings Assistance Program offering free energy efficiency upgrades to qualified customers.
The Get Additional Information portion of the page highlights more ways for customers to access support through PG&E’s Medical Baseline Program as well as various external programs such as the California COVID-19 Rent Relief Act helping income-eligible households pay rent and utilities, both for past due and future payments. Renters and landlords are eligible to apply.
The revamped webpage offers a useful resource for customers as the existing COVID-19 customer protections expire on July 1. PG&E remains committed to providing support for customers during this transition, and we want our customers to know that we are here to help.
For additional questions, we encourage customers to call 800-743-5000. Financial resources for business customers are available here.