PG&E Office Closures

Local Offices
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. currently maintains 84 local offices throughout its service territory. The portion of each local office open to the public, the “front counter,” is where customers can interact directly with PG&E employees to make payments, request services (for example, starting or stopping service) and resolve issues such as field, credit and billing inquiries. PG&E also has allowed local community groups to use rooms at some of its local offices for meetings and informal gatherings.

Public Access Termination
PG&E is now requesting, as one of the Business Transformation initiatives described in its General Rate Case application, to close all of its 84 front counters, thereby terminating public access at all of its local offices (including the use of rooms for meetings).

PG&E's Arguments in Support
PG&E's arguments in support of its closure proposal include:

• annual savings of $25 million;
• payments by mail, phone, Internet or at authorized pay stations in grocery stores or banks are more convenient;
• non-payment transactions are more efficiently handled by PG&E's call centers and Web site.

CFBF Arguments in Opposition
CFBF opposes the closure of PG&E's front counters and meeting rooms. The annual cost of maintaining its front counters is small, representing less than one quarter of 1 percent of PG&E's total operating revenues. Feedback from Farm Bureau members clearly indicates that they value their ability to interact face-to-face with local PG&E employees. Further, reliance on PG&E call center operators for help with non-payment issues is not viewed as an adequate replacement for in-person service.