March 2011 Bill Inserts

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Each month, PG&E offers important information on rebates, saving energy and safety in printed inserts that accompany your bill. Now, access this information online whenever you wish.

• Simple safety measures to ensure reliable gas service
  PG&E is committed to the safe operation of our pipelines. As a part of our commitment, we regularly patrol and monitor our pipelines and also conduct internal and external pipeline inspections. Visit www.pge.com/pipelineplanning or call
  1-888-743-7431 for important safety information.
  
  Call 811 before you dig
  The greatest cause of pipeline accidents is damage from excavation. If you plan on digging or trenching, please call Underground Service Alert (USA) by dialing 811 at least two working days before you begin. This free service will notify underground utilities in the area of your planned work. PG&E will locate and mark our underground gas and electric facilities.
  
  Signs of a gas leak: Don't rely solely on your nose
  The most obvious warning sign of a gas leak is usually a rotten-egg smell. However, sometimes there may be no odor at all. Other signs could include dirt spraying in the air, a hissing sound, continual bubbling in a pond or creek or plants that seem to be dying for no reason.
  
  If you suspect a gas leak:
  

  • Leave the area immediately and move to a safe location. Then, dial 911 and call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000.
  • Warn others to stay away.
  • If gas is burning, do not attempt to extinguish the fire or stop the flowing gas.
  • Only PG&E employees should operate pipeline valves.
  • Unless you are a safe distance away from the suspected leak, do not light a match, start an engine, use metal tools, or operate any device with the potential to create a spark that might ignite the gas, including electric switches, door bells, radios, televisions, lights, appliances, and garage door openers.

  
  Transmission pipeline markers
  Gas transmission pipelines transport high volumes of natural gas and are identified by transmission pipeline markers. These markers specify the approximate location of pipelines, but not all pipelines follow a straight path between two markers and markers do not detail the depth of the pipeline. Extra care should be taken around these signs.
  
  Pipeline operator contact information is located on the marker. Visit www.pge.com/pipelineplanning or call 1-888-743-7431 for PG&E pipeline maps and information. For maps of all types of pipelines, visit www.npms.phmsa.dot.gov.
• Natural gas customers
  Please read this important gas safety information
  As a natural gas pipeline operator, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) owns and is responsible for maintaining natural gas lines up to the gas service delivery point—the point where PG&E piping connects to a customer's pipes. Typically, this is near the gas meter outlet where the PG&E meter "tee" connects to the pipes leading into a building (or if there is no building, to the fence or wall enclosing gas-fired equipment).
  PG&E does not maintain any natural gas lines beyond the gas service delivery point. Lines beyond this point are normally owned by the customer*, so inspecting and keeping up this piping is your responsibility. Examples of this piping include any buried piping from the gas service delivery point to your house or appliances, or from your house to a swimming pool heater, spa or other buildings. Please refer to the diagram on the back side for more detail.
  
  If you have questions about this notice, please call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000.
  
  Natural gas piping should be inspected periodically for leaks and, if it's metallic, for corrosion. If you suspect a gas leak or find evidence of corrosion to metallic piping, you should take immediate steps to correct the problem:
  

  
  
  • Leave the area immediately and move to a safe location.
  
  
  • Then, dial 911 and call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000.
  
  
  • Warn others to stay away.
  
  
  • If gas is burning, do not attempt to extinguish the fire or stop the flowing gas.
  
  
  • Only PG&E employees should operate pipeline valves.
  
  
  • Unless you are a safe distance away from the suspected leak, do not light a match, start an engine, use metal tools, or operate any device with the potential to create a spark that might ignite the gas, including electric switches, door bells, radios, televisions, lights, appliances, and garage door openers.
  
  

  
  If you plan on digging or trenching, please call Underground Service Alert (USA) by dialing 811 at least two working days before you begin. This free service will notify underground utility operators in the area of your planned work. PG&E will locate and mark our underground gas and electric facilities.
  
  
  
  *"Customer" refers to the owner of the gas piping system served by PG&E. This may be either the property owner or another party who owns the gas piping.
• Notice of Pacific Gas and Electric Company's Application to Recover Market Redesign and Technology Upgrade (MRTU) Initiative Costs (A.11-02-011)
  On February 15, 2011, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) filed an application with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) requesting changes to its electric rates effective January 1, 2012.
  
  Each year, PG&E is required to file an Energy Resource Recovery Account (ERRA) Compliance Review application demonstrating that certain electric procurement activity from the previous year complies with the standards and objectives detailed in PG&E's Long-Term Procurement Plan (LTPP). Typically, the ERRA Compliance Review applications do not affect customer rates unless there is an adverse finding made during the CPUC's review process.
  
  In this year's 2010 ERRA Compliance Review Application (A.11-02-011), PG&E is including a request that will affect customer rates. The inclusion of the rate recovery request was provided by CPUC Decision 09-12-021. Specifically, the request seeks to recover in rates the costs PG&E has incurred to comply with the mandated Market Redesign and Technology Upgrade (MRTU) initiative.
  
  The MRTU initiative, which was developed by the California Independent System Operator and approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, was launched on March 31, 2009. The MRTU changed the manner in which electricity is bought and sold by participants in newly redesigned markets in California. Costs presented in this application represent actual costs incurred by PG&E in 2010 to upgrade the initially deployed system to include greater functionality.
  
  The total electric revenue requirement request (the total amount PG&E is requesting to collect in rates from all customers) in A.11-02-011 is $47.2 million. PG&E requests that electric rates designed to recover this amount become effective on January 1, 2012.
  
  Will rates increase as a result of this application?
  Yes, approval of this application will increase electric rates for bundled service customers (those who receive electric generation, as well as transmission and distribution service from PG&E) and for customers who purchase electricity from other suppliers (e.g., direct access and community choice aggregation) by less than one percent. If approved, the revenue requirement request of $47.2 million will increase PG&E's bundled system average rates, relative to current rates, by 0.40 percent in 2012.
  
  FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
  
  To request a copy of the application and exhibits or for more details, call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000. For TDD/TTY (speech-hearing impaired), call 1-800-652-4712.
  
  You may request a copy of the application and exhibits by writing to:
  Pacific Gas and Electric Company
  MRTU Application
  P.O. Box 7442, San Francisco, CA 94120
  
  THE CPUC PROCESS
  
  The CPUC's Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) may review this application. The DRA is an independent arm of the CPUC, created by the Legislature to represent the interests of all utility customers throughout the state and obtain the lowest possible rate for service consistent with reliable and safe service levels. The DRA has a multi-disciplinary staff with expertise in economics, finance, accounting and engineering. The DRA's views do not necessarily reflect those of the CPUC. Other parties of record will also participate.
  
  The CPUC may hold evidentiary hearings where parties of record present their proposals in testimony and are subject to cross-examination before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). These hearings are open to the public, but only those who are parties of record may present evidence or cross-examine witnesses during evidentiary hearings. Members of the public may attend, but not participate in, these hearings.
  
  After considering all proposals and evidence presented during the hearing process, the ALJ will issue a draft decision. When the CPUC acts on this application, it may adopt all or part of PG&E's request, amend or modify it, or deny the application. The CPUC's final decision may be different from PG&E's application.
  
  If you would like to learn how you can participate in this proceeding or if you have comments or questions, you may contact the CPUC's Public Advisor as follows:
  
  Public Advisor's Office
  505 Van Ness Avenue
  Room 2103
  San Francisco, CA 94102
  1-415-703-2074 or 1-866-849-8390 (toll free)
  TTY 1-415-703-5282 or 1-866-836-7825 (toll free)
  E-mail to public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov
  
  If you are writing a letter to the Public Advisor's Office, please include the number of the application (A.11-02-011) to which you are referring. All comments will be circulated to the Commissioners, the assigned Administrative Law Judge and the Energy Division staff.
  
  A copy of PG&E's MRTU application and exhibits are also available for review at the California Public Utilities Commission, 505 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102, Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–noon.
• Notice of Pacific Gas and Electric Company's Application to Recover 2012-2014 Demand Response Programs and Budgets Costs (A.11-03-001)
  The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) requires Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to file an application to authorize and fund PG&E's Demand Response Programs. Per this requirement, PG&E filed application No.11-03-001 on March 1, 2011, requesting approval of its 2012-2014 Demand Response Programs ("Application").
  
  What are Demand Response Programs?
  Demand response programs increase electric reliability and reduce PG&E's total power purchase costs by motivating electric customers to reduce electric usage during high-demand, or peak usage, periods and/or shift electric usage to other periods when electric demand is lower.
  
  PG&E's Application proposes a total demand response related revenue1 requirement of $228 million2: $76.8 million in 2012; $73.8 million in 2013; and $77.4 million in 2014. PG&E proposes to recover these costs in electric distribution rates from both bundled and direct access customers. The annual revenue requirement increase (as compared to 2011 revenue requirements) is approximately $76.8 million. Bundled customers are customers who receive electric generation as well as transmission and distribution service from PG&E. Direct Access customers are customers who receive transmission and distribution service from PG&E, but who purchase electric generation service from third-party energy service providers.
  
  Will Electric Rates Increase if the Application is Approved?
  Yes. Approval of PG&E's proposed 2012-2014 demand response program budget will increase electric distribution rates paid by all electric bundled and direct access customers. PG&E expects any rate changes associated with its Application to be consolidated with electric rate changes in other CPUC proceedings. The eventual net change in rates is difficult to predict. Absent other electric rate changes, PG&E's budget request resulting from this Application filing would increase average bundled electric rates approximately 0.64 percent and would not have a significant impact on individual customers' rates.
  
  FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
  To request a copy of the application and exhibits or for more details, call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000. For TDD/TTY (speech-hearing impaired), call 1-800-652-4712.
  
  You may request a copy of the application and exhibits by writing to:
  
  Pacific Gas and Electric Company
  Demand Response Application
  P.O. Box 7442, San Francisco, CA 94120
  
  THE CPUC PROCESS
  The CPUC's Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) will review this application.
  
  The DRA is an independent arm of the CPUC, created by the Legislature to represent the interests of all utility customers throughout the state and obtain the lowest possible rate for service consistent with reliable and safe service levels. The DRA has a multi-disciplinary staff with expertise in economics, finance, accounting and engineering. The DRA's views do not necessarily reflect those of the CPUC. Other parties of record will also participate.
  
  The CPUC may hold evidentiary hearings where parties of record present their proposals in testimony and are subject to cross-examination before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). These hearings are open to the public, but only those who are parties of record may present evidence or cross-examine witnesses during evidentiary hearings. Members of the public may attend, but not participate in, these hearings.
  
  After considering all proposals and evidence presented during the hearing process, the ALJ will issue a draft decision. When the CPUC acts on this application, it may adopt all or part of PG&E's request, amend or modify it, or deny the application. The CPUC's final decision may be different from PG&E's application.
  
  If you would like to learn how you can participate in this proceeding or if you have comments or questions, you may contact the CPUC's Public Advisor as follows:
  
  Public Advisor's Office
  505 Van Ness Avenue
  Room 2103
  San Francisco, CA 94102
  1-415-703-2074 or 1-866-849-8390 (toll free)
  TTY 1-415-703-5282 or 1-866-836-7825 (toll free)
  E-mail to public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov
  
  If you are writing a letter to the Public Advisor's Office, please include the number of the application (A.11-03-001) to which you are referring. All comments will be circulated to the Commissioners, the assigned Administrative Law Judge and the Energy Division staff.
  
  A copy of PG&E's Demand Response application and exhibits are also available for review at the California Public Utilities Commission, 505 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102, Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–noon.