Pacific Gas and Electric

PG&E is involved in extensive client engagement to assist its clients with decarbonisation and improving energy efficiency. The company has set a target to achieve 48 million tonnes of lifecycle emissions reductions for its customers through decarbonisation strategies. The company’s strategy includes multiple action levers to encourage emissions reductions, including information sharing through its home energy reports service, customer motivation through its demand response services and providing incentive programmes for low-carbon solutions, including batteries and wind power.

PG&E has set a target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, covering both generated and purchased power. Further, the company has set interim targets to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions from its electricity generation by 51% and scope 3 emissions resulting from its electricity supply by 40% by 2030 compared to 2016. However, the company’s targets are not ambitious enough to align with its 1.5°C pathway. To align, the company should be aiming to reach net zero by 2035 as recommended by the International Energy Agency (IEA) for electricity generation companies in advanced economies.

PG&E has created a transition plan which includes emissions reduction targets and some details of actions it plans to take to decarbonise. However, the plan does not contain financial commitments towards the company’s transition and lacks details of long-term planning. PG&E recently received approval to extend the lifetime of its Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, which it will keep open until 2030. The company is planning to seek further extensions but does not disclose any mitigation plans if the plant is closed down. The plant currently accounts for around 60% of the company’s total energy generation.

PG&E is investing significantly in adding battery storage to the grid. The company has already contracted 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of battery storage and has contracts to expand this capacity to 3 GW by 2025. This will help increase the resilience of the company’s electricity supply and mitigate the potential effects of fluctuations in wind and solar energy output. The company also runs demand response programmes with commercial and industrial clients to reduce load when demand is highest. In 2022, PG&E enabled 358 megawatts (MW) of load reduction, up from 146 MW the previous year.

PG&E has set a target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040 covering both generated and purchased power. The company has set interim targets to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions from its electricity generation by 51% and scope 3 emissions from its electricity supply by 40% by 2030 compared to 2016.

PG&E plans to deliver 70% renewable electricity by 2030, up from around 40% in 2021. The company provides limited details on plans to decarbonise its existing electricity generation. It also does not provide details of potential gas plant closures or expansion of its renewables capacity.

PG&E is investing significantly in expanding its battery storage connected to the grid. The company currently has around 1.2 GW with contracts to reach 3 GW by 2025. The company is working to extend the lifetime of its Diablo Canyon Power Plant, which currently accounts for over half of its electricity generation.

Emissions intensity from PG&E’s own electricity generation has increased from 2017 to 2022 due to reductions in its hydropower and solar power generation over this period. The company has reduced the emissions intensity from its purchased electricity between 2017 and 2022. However, it will need to increase the rate of emissions reduction, particularly for its own electricity generation, to align with its 1.5°C pathway over the next five years.

The majority of the electricity PG&E provides to customers, both from its own generation and that purchased through long-term contracts, is from low-carbon sources. However, the company’s transition plan lacks details on how it will reduce its emissions and does not include commitments to phase out its existing gas-powered assets. The company’s 2040 net-zero target is not aligned with its 1.5°C pathway, which requires the company to reach net zero by 2035.

The company publicly discloses a commitment to engaging in social dialogue with workers and unions. However, no relevant disclosure was found regarding the categories of stakeholders it engages with on a just transition. Nor was there any evidence to show the company’s ongoing social dialogue and meaningful engagement with affected stakeholders. The company has a set of time-bound, measurable indicators to mitigate the social impacts of the low-carbon transition on workers. However, no evidence was found of the company undertaking low-carbon transition planning to mitigate the social impacts of the transition on affected stakeholders and its business relationships. Additionally, no evidence was found to demonstrate the company’s engagement in social dialogue and with stakeholders in its just transition planning.

The company has a commitment to create and support access to green and decent jobs as part of the low-carbon transition. Furthermore, it discloses the actions it takes to create or preserve more than 18,000 local jobs. However, no evidence was found of the company’s actions to promote these jobs in a way that ensures gender balance and inclusion of vulnerable groups. Additionally, no relevant disclosure was found of the company’s assessment of employment dislocation risks. The company has a commitment to reskill and upskill workers and stakeholders affected by the low-carbon transition and discloses the actions it takes in this regard. For instance, it supports a local community college in providing a fire technology and a vegetation management training programme. However, no relevant disclosure was found of the company embedding equality of opportunity for women and vulnerable groups in these actions. Furthermore, no evidence was found of the company having a process for identifying skills gaps for workers and affected stakeholders.

No relevant disclosure was found to show if the company identifies impacts of the low-carbon transition on social protection for workers and affected stakeholders, nor how it contributes to social protection. Additionally, no evidence was found that the company expects its business relationships to contribute to the social protection of their workers and affected stakeholders. No relevant disclosure was found to show how the company identifies any misalignment of its lobbying activities with policies and regulations that support the just transition, nor of the measures it takes to address misalignment. Furthermore, no evidence was found that the company lobbies for policies and regulations for green and decent job creation; retention, education and reskilling; and social protection for workers.

While the company commits to respecting human rights, there was no evidence to indicate that it commits to respecting the ILO fundamental rights at work or that it expects its business relationships to respect the same commitment. No evidence was found of the company’s process to identify, assess and mitigate salient human rights risks in its own operations and in its supply chain. Further, no evidence was found of the company disclosing the stakeholders whose human rights have been affected by its activities or having a grievance mechanism available to workers and external stakeholders.

While the company expects its business relationships to commit to respecting the health and safety of its workers, there was no evidence to indicate that the company itself has the same commitment. No evidence was found of the company having a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage. The company discloses the proportion of its direct workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements. No relevant disclosure was found of the company’s required working hours. The company discloses some indicators of workforce diversity, including the age and gender of its workforce by employee category. However, no relevant disclosure was found of additional indicators of workforce diversity, nor of the company having a commitment towards gender equality and women’s empowerment.

No evidence was found that the company commits to protecting personal data and that it has a privacy statement regarding the collection, sharing and access to personal data. Moreover, no relevant disclosure was found of the company’s global tax strategy and the corporate income tax it pays in each relevant jurisdiction. The company does have a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption, and it includes corresponding clauses in its business relationship contracts. The company also discloses its expenditure on lobbying activities. However, no evidence was found that the company has a lobbying and political engagement policy or that it discloses that it does not make political contributions.