Buildings and Operations

Creating more efficient buildings and operations

PG&E is committed to reducing energy, water and waste in our facilities and incorporating more sustainable practices throughout our operations. We continue to take responsibility for how our operations have affected the environment in the past.

“Greening” our own buildings

We are working to use energy and water more efficiently and divert landfill waste from our office facilities and service yards. We also power our service centers with 100 percent solar energy from the Solar Choice program.

We’ve also expanded our use of on-site renewable energy by completing the installation of solar photovoltaic systems at numerous PG&E sites, including facilities in Stockton, Merced, Auburn and Fresno.

We actively pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) certification for new buildings and large remodeling projects. For example, we earned LEED Gold certification for our new Livermore Substation Training Center. This site has buildings equipped with energy efficient HVAC systems, advanced lighting system controls, electric vehicle charging stations, native plant landscaping with smart irrigation system controllers, an on-site solar PV system and a greywater recycling system.

Free recycled dirt program

PG&E offers free soil to customers to assist in their construction efforts. The soil was excavated during PG&E construction projects. By working together to recycle this material, which would otherwise be transported to landfills, we can reduce our environmental impact and carbon footprint. We will deliver the recycled soil in 10 cubic yard increments to homes or businesses. For more information about our recycled dirt program, call Building & Operations 1-877-743-7782, option 6. Or email RecycledDirtProgram@pge.com. Or if you are ready to request free dirt, visit the Recycled Dirt Request Form.

Making our supply chain more sustainable

We’re creating partnerships and working with our suppliers to make our supply chain practices more sustainable.

We ask suppliers to provide information on their sustainable performance through requests for proposals, supplier scorecard reviews and participation in an annual sustainability assessment. This information helps us with supplier selection, our training strategy and in developing tools to help suppliers improve environmental performance.

As co-founders of the Electric Utility Industry Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance, we’re partnering with other utilities to drive positive changes across our industry. Learn more about this effort. Visit Electric Utility Industry Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance.

Saving more water

We are committed to using water responsibly in our operations and at our facilities and we work to help our customers do the same.

We offer customers a range of options to help them reduce their water use, such as direct installation of low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators. Altogether, customers who participated in PG&E’s programs reduced water usage by about 95 million gallons in 2020, based on an analysis of our most common energy-efficiency measures that deliver water savings.

To reduce water usage at our facilities, we’re adding smart irrigation controllers across PG&E’s service area. These devices use high resolution weather data to create schedules to irrigate landscapes only when necessary—and also give our facility managers real-time information about irrigation system performance.

Remediating historic sites

As part of PG&E’s environmental commitment, we are working to address contamination associated with historic PG&E operations and the operations of predecessor companies.

Learn more about our environmental remediation efforts. Visit Taking Responsibility.

Humboldt Bay Power Plant

Understand the background of the Humboldt Bay Power Plant, and learn about the project to decommission the nuclear power plant at the facility. Visit Humboldt Bay Power Plant.

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Practicing environmental leadership