PG&E helps small businesses stay in control of energy bills

Rising prices for gasoline, food and other necessities are not only affecting consumers, they're also affecting the small businesses that drive our economy and serve our communities. That's why Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) offers a convenient way for small business owners to pay their energy bills, and allow them to stay focused on their core missions.

To eliminate big swings in your small business payments and maintain consistent monthly payments during extreme-weather months, the Balanced Payment Plan (BPP) would be the best option. PG&E will calculate your monthly payment amount based on your average energy use costs. In other words, PG&E will average your business energy costs over a 12-month period to arrive at your monthly "balanced payment amount."

BPP is free and available to qualified small business customers. Small businesses with a rate schedule of A1, A6 and GNR1 are eligible to apply. After you enroll in BPP, PG&E will monitor your business account and change the BPP amount when appropriate, but no more than once every four months. Changes may be made to your BPP amount to ensure that you are paying an average of what you actually owe throughout the year.

Your meters will still be read monthly and your bills will show your actual energy costs, but you will be asked to pay only your Balanced Payment Plan amount.

To enroll, or if you have any further questions about the Balanced Payment Plan, please contact PG&E at 1-800-468-4743. You can also enroll in BPP when you log onto www.pge.com/mybusiness/ at any time to manage your account. To sign up for My Account, you'll need your PG&E account number and meter number or phone number associated with your account.

PeakChoice^TM program helps business customers save money and energy

PG&E recently announced the launch of its PeakChoice^TM program, a new program that allows business customers to reduce their demand and customize their contribution to power reliability during times of high energy use. This "demand response" program is a fiscally and environmentally responsible way to respond to occasional and temporary spikes in energy demand.

"With PeakChoice, participating business customers can lower energy usage during times when demand is highest on their terms, without sacrificing the productivity of their businesses," said Brad Whitcomb, vice president of marketing and customer innovation. "Making demand response work for our business customers is a cost-effective way to address high electrical consumption."

The PeakChoice program is designed specifically to enable large businesses to conserve energy without significantly impacting business operations. During demand response events, when the state expects to encounter high electric system demand, PeakChoice customers are notified to implement the energy-saving protocols they have designed specifically for their business.