Urgent Alert

Notice of Accessing, Collecting, Storing, Using and Disclosing Energy Usage Information

We will make every reasonable effort to protect Energy Usage Data

Last updated: July 1, 2022

 

Your privacy is a top priority for PG&E and we will make every reasonable effort to protect Energy Usage Data about you. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued "Rules Regarding Privacy and Security Protections for Energy Usage Data (PDF, 476 KB)" to ensure the protection of customers' privacy. We treat information about our customers as confidential, consistent with all legal and regulatory requirements established by the CPUC and other regulatory agencies. This Notice is intended to inform you about how PG&E treats Energy Usage Data that we collect and process. PG&E's Notice of Accessing, Collecting, Storing, Using and Disclosing Energy Usage Information covers Pacific Gas and Electric Company, its employees, agents, contractors, and affiliates.

 

Please also see our Privacy Policy regarding the privacy of Personal Information that we collected. Effective January 1, 2020, our Privacy Policy is revised to reflect the rights of California consumers (California residents) under the California Consumer Privacy Act.

 

 

Definitions

 

"Personal Information" means any information that, when used alone or combined with other personal or identifying information, can be used to distinguish or derive the identity of an individual, family, or household who is or which includes a customer of PG&E. Such information is subject to confidentiality requirements

 

"Energy Usage Data" means any usage information obtained through the use of PG&E's Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), which includes PG&E's SmartMeters™, when associated with any information that can reasonably be used to identify an individual, family, household, residence, or non-residential customer

 

"Third Parties" means vendors, agents, contractors, or affiliates that provide service to or on behalf of PG&E

 

"You" means any PG&E customer, website visitor, or mobile application user

 

 

What type of information does PG&E collect?

 

PG&E is committed to collecting only the information that is necessary to provide services to you or to comply with the law. We receive, store, and process Personal Information, including Energy Usage Data, based on our business relationship with you and your use of our utility services. Some examples include:

 

  • Contact information that allows us to communicate with you, including your name, address, telephone number, and email address
  • Billing and payment information used to pay your utility bill, including your financial information, credit history, and Social Security Number
  • Energy Usage Data, including electric and gas usage data gathered by our metering systems
  • Information gathered when you choose to participate in utility programs or services, such as Energy Efficiency or Demand Response programs, or web-based services such as Your Account

 

Cookies: When you visit or use our website or online services, our server may create cookies, which are small pieces of information placed on your device that provide a more convenient experience to you. When viewing your account information online, you may provide or make available certain information to us and our business partners. While your Energy Usage Data is not associated with the cookies used on our website or online services, your Personal Information may be associated with these cookies when you use certain features such as "Remember My Username". For more information on how PG&E uses cookies and how you can disable cookies, please visit our privacy policy.

 

 

How is the information collected?

 

We collect information in a variety of ways, including:

 

  • When you use electricity and gas, Energy Usage Data is collected by our metering systems
  • When you set up your account or interact with us regarding your account, your utility service, and your participation in utility programs. This may be collected by phone with a customer service representative, by mail, by text, by email, through our website at pge.com (view our Terms of Use), or through vendors who provide services on our behalf.
  • When we work with third parties such as credit agencies, market researchers, or contractors who provide utility services on our behalf
  • From other sources: We may supplement the information described above with information we obtain from other sources, including from both online and offline data providers. Such supplemental information may include contact information, such as your email address, demographic data, or other relevant information.

 

 

How do we use Energy Usage Data?

 

We use Energy Usage Data that we collect in order to provide utility services to you, and to inform you about utility-related programs and services available to you. Some examples include:

  • To generate your billing statement, and track your account billing and payment history
  • To allow you to see your Energy Usage Data on a next-day basis, when applicable, using secure access over the Internet
  • To communicate with you about your energy usage to help you select the best rate plan, or help you, if you choose, to take better advantage of pricing programs offered by PG&E, such as our SmartRateTM program
  • To communicate with you about energy saving and energy management tips tailored to your geographic area, climate, and daily energy usage
  • To improve our utility services to you

 

We may also include data about your electric and gas usage in a group of other usage data so it becomes anonymous and cannot identify you personally. For instance, the data group could be used to provide a summary of total energy usage for all homes and businesses in a certain geographic area or climate zone. In these instances, the Energy Usage Data is used by us to manage, provide, and improve our services and business operations. Some examples include:

  • To analyze rates and rate structures
  • To forecast usage patterns and plan for growth in different geographic areas
  • To improve our energy supply planning and to better design and engineer our energy distribution systems

 

 

Sharing Energy Usage Data with third parties

 

In order to provide you with services or to complete transactions requested by you, we may transfer your Energy Usage Data to Third Parties who act on our behalf. Third Parties acting on PG&E's behalf are required to follow the same privacy and security practices as PG&E, and are subject to an extensive security review of their data handling processes before PG&E permits any sharing of customers' Personal Information.

 

PG&E does not disclose a customer's Energy Usage Data to any other person or business entity without your prior consent, except as necessary for PG&E to:

 

  • Provide services to you
  • Operate and maintain PG&E's electric or gas system
  • Comply with a valid warrant, subpoena, or court order
  • Comply with a valid California Public Utilities Commission request or request from other state or federal governmental agencies with legal authority to obtain the data from PG&E
  • Enable Third Parties to provide utility-related services on behalf of PG&E—but only if necessary to render the service and subject to confidentiality and security requirements
  • Assist emergency responders in situations of immediate threat to life or property

 

As stated above, PG&E may share non-customer specific Energy Usage Data with other entities for the purpose of performing activities that may help improve such programs as Energy Efficiency and Demand Response, or to inform California energy policy as directed by the CPUC.

 

For more information on your rights and the obligations of Third Parties who use or access your Personal Information, please contact PG&E at the addresses or links below, or review the CPUC's Privacy Rules.

 

 

Sharing Energy Usage Data is your choice

 

You may authorize other companies or persons to receive your Personal Information, including your Energy Usage Data. Before sharing information, it is important that you understand how other parties intend to use your information, if they will share it with others, and your rights as a consumer. We encourage you to protect the confidentiality of your username and password and other personal information specific to your PG&E account.

 

For more information, please visit pge.com/sharemydata.

 

 

Retention

 

We keep Personal Information, including Energy Usage Data, based on legal requirements or recommendations, including those from the CPUC. Generally, we only retain Personal Information for as long as is reasonably necessary to provide utility services to you or as approved by the CPUC or required by law. Secure disposal methods are used when information is no longer needed.

 

 

Viewing Your Energy Usage Data

 

Access to Energy Usage Data is provided either through monthly billing statements or through the online Your Account portal. Your Account displays Energy Usage Data one day after actual usage and shows hourly usage for residential customers and 15-minute interval data for non-residential (business) customers.

 

PG&E's website also provides secure access to pricing information, including an estimate of the month-end bill and rates at peak and non-peak times. Customers on a standard rate plan also have an option to be notified when they move up to higher priced tiers by participating in a voluntary PG&E program called Energy Alerts.

 

 

Managing your information

 

We offer certain choices about how we communicate with you and what Personal Information you provide to us. In some cases, you have the right to limit the information you provide to us.

 

  • Social Security Number: In order to establish or re-establish service, you may be asked to provide your Social Security Number for us to validate your identity. You have the right to not provide your Social Security Number, however, a deposit may be charged and we will request an alternate form of identification (e.g., driver's license, passport, State identification, etc.). The establishment deposit can be waived if the account is enrolled in paperless billing and recurring payment via pge.com or secured with a bill guarantor. The re-establishment deposit can be waived if secured with a bill guarantor.
  • Your Account: As a customer, you may sign up for Your Account online at pge.com to get instant access your bill, make electronic payments, and receive important alerts. If you choose to sign up for Your Account, you will be asked to provide your email address. You have the right to decline to provide your email address; however, you will not be able to take advantage of our online services such as electronic billing and payments.
  • Email Communications: If you have opted-in to receive email communications from us, you can opt out of receiving these emails at any time by following the unsubscribe process in the footer of the email or by contacting us in the manner described in the "Contact Us" section of this Policy. If you are a customer who has registered to use Your Account to access your account online, you can opt out of future mailings by updating the preferences section on the Profile & Alerts page within the Your Account portal at pge.com.

 

To help protect your privacy and provide you with quality service, we rely on you to provide us with complete and accurate information. If you think the information we have about you is inaccurate or outdated, we encourage you to contact us at your earliest convenience to update or correct the information. You may update or correct your information by calling the number listed in the "Contact Us" section below, or by signing into your online account through the Your Account portal at pge.com to edit your profile.

 

 

Security

 

Protecting our customers' information is a top priority for PG&E. We take extensive measures to ensure the integrity of our systems and protect your Personal Information. We continuously implement and update administrative, technical, and physical security measures to help protect Personal Information about you from unauthorized access, destruction, or alteration. In addition, any account information you enter while logged in to your online account, or that is displayed on our website in your browser window, is secured using an industry standard security technology known as Secure Sockets Layer ("SSL"). By using SSL, we attempt to protect the confidentiality of your personal and financial information. Your browser must be capable of supporting SSL. Please check with your browser manufacturer for details.

 

 

Changes to this notice

 

Changes to this Notice will be made as necessary and when required by the CPUC. Material changes to this Notice will be communicated on PG&E's website, pge.com. We will also notify you annually in a bill insert to revisit the most updated version of this Notice on our website.

 

 

Contact us

 

If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about this Notice, would like to request a current or previous version, or would like more information regarding our process for updating this Notice, you can contact us using the following options:

 

PG&E Residential and Business Customer Service 
Correspondence Management Center 
Attention: Customer Privacy Management 
P.O. Box 997310 
Sacramento, CA 95899-7310

 

PG&E Residential Customers: Call 1-800-743-5000 
PG&E Business Customers: Visit the Business Customer Service Center

 

Email: pgeprivacy@pge.com

More on privacy

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

Understand your consumer privacy rights.

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Review PG&E's social media policies and guidelines.

Digital communications policy

How we plan to interact with you through voice, text messages, emails and more