Understanding the Bill Forecast Alert

You will not receive more than one alert of each type (email, text, or voice) during a billing period.

If you do not reach the forecasted bill amount you set for the alert, you will not receive any alerts that month.

Here are a few suggestions to help you set the alert for your needs:

Recommended: Set for your monthly spending goal.

• If you want to know when your bill is going to exceed what you normally have budgeted for the month, enter what you consider your average energy bill spending goal.

Default: Highest bill in the last 12 months.

• Your highest bill amount from the past 12 months will be displayed as an idea of what to set your alert for. If you don’t want to be surprised by a high bill, you can use an amount close to this number.

Frequent alerts: Monthly awareness of usage.

• Trying to beat your budget goal? Set your alert to an amount lower than your average bill and you’ll most likely receive the alert every month.

The Bill Forecast Alert tool reviews your daily energy usage near the beginning of each monthly bill cycle to determine how much energy you’re using. Then it calculates what your bill would be if you continued using energy at that same rate. If the forecasted bill amount (the sum of the actual “to date” costs and the projected costs for the remaining billing cycle) exceeds the amount you set the alert for, you’ll receive an alert letting you know the amount of your forecasted bill. An alert may be sent up to one day before your bill cycle ends.

The Bill Forecast Alert does not factor in weather. Hot summer days and cold winter weather are big drivers of energy use. If the beginning of your bill cycle falls on days with extreme temperatures, it can affect the bill amount forecasted. Remember, this is the amount forecasted and not necessarily what your final monthly bill will be.

There are actions you can take today to reduce your energy use before your next bill. Learn how to save energy and costs every day.

We hope these alerts can provide an early warning if you are headed towards a high bill. You'll have time to reduce your energy use before you get your next bill so there will not be any surprises when your bill arrives.

Yes, log in to Energy Alerts to manage your enrollment.

You can opt out in several ways.

From any device: log in to Energy Alerts to manage your enrollments.

From an email alert: Click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email and follow the instructions to opt out.

From a text alert: Reply STOP to the alert. This method blocks all communications through that specific channel. If you reply with STOP, you will never receive an SMS again.

From a voice alert: Press 9 on your phone as described in the message. This method permanently unsubscribes you from the voice alerts and you will be unable to subscribe at a later time.

Forecasts are estimated projections. Although we try to make them as accurate as possible, we cannot account for every variable that may affect the final cost of your bill. For example, due to a variable like drastic weather change, you may receive a higher projection than your actual bill.

Forecasts are estimated projections. Although we try to make them as accurate as possible, they do not include costs like taxes, fees, and any additional changes.

You can receive Bill Forecast Alerts by email, text message and voice message. You can also log in to your account and click on the “Projected Bill” tab. The forecast shows your current cost so far in the billing period. It also shows your projected remaining cost for the billing period and how that compares your typical cost, based on their past usage.

To make the projection as accurate as possible, we have set up an anomaly check to make sure an unlikely amount for a projected bill does not go out to customers. If your bill exceeds the threshold often, we highly recommend that you log in to Energy Alerts to review and update your threshold. An adjustment may help ensure you’ll be notified when you are on track to exceed an amount you set.

We highly recommend that you log in to your PG&E account and check your daily energy usage via the Energy Usage Detail page. This page visualizes your energy use trends and costs. It also makes comparisons to useful benchmarks such as weather and similar homes. Additionally, we offer an energy cost and usage view by bill, year, or day, which can help you understand how much energy you are using during different time periods.

PG&E’s Energy Action Guide can help you shop smarter, lower your energy use, and save on monthly bills. Find available rebates, search, and compare energy-saving products that fit your needs and price range, and discover money-saving programs.

For additional no-cost, low-cost and investment ideas for reducing your home energy use and lowering your monthly PG&E statements, log in to your account.