Budget Billing

When you enroll in Budget Billing, we average your annual energy costs over the last 12 months to determine your monthly payment amount.

Residential customers may visit Your Account to find out what their monthly Budget Billing payment could be.

If your actual energy usage has changed significantly, we adjust your monthly payment amount once every four months. This adjustment could raise or lower your monthly payment amount.

We strongly recommend that you stay enrolled in the Budget Billing program for at least a year to realize the full benefits and avoid seasonal peak bills.

It’s also important that you make your monthly payments on time and in the exact amount as shown on your energy statement. If you pay more than your monthly payment amount, the excess payment will not be reflected on your account as a balance unless you unenroll from the program.

You can unenroll at any time. You’ll also be unenrolled from Budget Billing if you:

• Stop your PG&E service
• Have past due payments
• Switch to an ineligible rate plan (e.g., enroll in Net Energy Metering)

Upon unenrollment from Budget Billing, your remaining balance will be calculated. The total amount you owed or were credited will be reflected on your next energy statement.

1. Account No: Your account number is a 10-digit number. We use this number to identify your account if you call us about your energy use. Your account number and due date are at the top of every page of your statement. You receive a separate monthly energy statement for each active account.
2. Service For: This is the address where your charges were incurred. Some customers receive PG&E service at multiple locations. This section indicates which property incurred the charges.
3. Your Budget Billing Summary: Your ‘Budget Billing Amount This Period’ is based on average energy charges over the past 12 months. Although a more detailed breakdown of your usage and payments is available on your energy statement, you’re required to pay this amount.
4. Questions About Your Bill?: Contact us with questions using the information found on the first page of the statement.
5. Total Amount Due: This shows the amount you need to pay for that billing period. This charge includes your calculated Budget Billing monthly payment amount and any generation or procurement charges for Community Choice Aggregator (CCA), Direct Access (DA) or Core Transport Agent (CTA) customers. The notes below reflect other information about your account and any special programs you participate in.
6. Savings Alert: We use this space for notes about your account, including any special programs that might affect your total charges.
7. How Budget Billing Affects Your Energy Payments: This chart helps you identify any trends in your monthly energy usages over the past year. Use the data to understand how Budget Billing helps equalize your payment across different seasons.
8. Your Account Details: The information in this section helps explain how your payments and energy usage are currently affecting your account balance.
   1. Account Balance from Previous Statement: This shows your total account balance, the amount that you owed (positive value) or the amount you were credited (negative value) before you made a payment per your previous bill.
   2. Payment(s) Received Since Last Statement: This shows the payment from your previous bill. Payments made to PG&E are shown as credits—hence, the negative value.
   3. Account Balance Before Current Charges: This shows the total account balance after your payment for your previous bill. It's the sum of your a) Account Balance from Previous Statement; and b) Payment(s) Received Since Last Statement.
   4. Current Electric Charges: This is the actual cost related to your electricity usage in the last billing period.
   5. Current Gas Charges: This is the actual cost related to your gas usage in the last billing period. It's the amount you'd be required to pay for your electricity usage if you were NOT enrolled in Budget Billing.
   6. Total Current Account Balance: This shows your current account balance at this billing period. This is the accumulated differences between your monthly payment amounts and actual usage costs during your enrollment in Budget Billing. The amount you credit/owe would be reflected on your bill if you voluntarily unenroll or are removed from the Budget Billing program.
9. Important Messages: We use this space to share timely information—from summer safety tips to regulatory updates.
10. Payment Stub: Return this form to the address indicated with your payment. The remittance stub indicates your account number, bill due date and total amount due. For your convenience, we have included a windowed return envelope. Please place the remittance stub with the PG&E address visible in the window. The back of the remittance stub includes an area for you to update your account information, as well as an overview of payment options.

Please note: Budget Billing doesn’t apply to the electric generation or procurement portion of your energy costs if you’re a Community Choice Aggregator (CCA), Direct Access (DA) or Core Transport Agent (CTA) customer.

Below is a sample energy statement of a CCA/DA customer on Budget Billing. The Total Amount due in this case includes both the Budget Billing monthly payment amount and the associated CCA/DA electric generation charges.