Retail customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) received 100% greenhouse gas-free electricity in 2023, including hydroelectric power.
In 2023, 34% of PG&E’s total electricity delivered to retail customers — residential customers and businesses to whom the company directly sells electricity — came from specified eligible renewable resources, including solar, wind, small hydroelectric and biopower. PG&E retail customers also received 53% of their electric deliveries from carbon-free nuclear power generated by the Diablo Canyon Power Plant and the remaining 13% from large hydroelectric power.
The company’s GHG-free electric retail sales are one important indicator of PG&E’s clean energy performance, according to a release. In another example, PG&E also reached an important battery energy storage milestone, passing the 2,100-MW mark for capacity.
“We’re all in on creating a clean energy future,” said Patti Poppe, chief executive officer, PG&E Corporation. “Providing retail customers with 100% greenhouse gas-free electricity in 2023 highlights that PG&E’s electric generation portfolio supports achievement of California’s climate goals.”
California’s goals include reaching carbon neutrality by 2045. PG&E is committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2040 and to actively removing more GHGs than the company emits by 2050.
Large-scale solar energy accounts for the largest share of PG&E’s renewable energy mix. The company has more than 260 Renewables Portfolio Standard-eligible power purchase agreements totaling more than 6,000 MW.
PG&E also owns 430 MW of eligible renewable generation. That includes 277 MW of small hydroelectric and 13 solar generation plants, mostly in the Central Valley, which generate up to 153 MW.
PG&E also continues to invest in battery energy storage systems to enhance grid reliability, integrate additional renewables into the grid and save customers energy and money.
As of March 2024, PG&E has brought online more than 2,100 MW of new incremental battery storage capacity, with an additional 772 MW planned in 2024 and 687.5 MW planned in 2025. PG&E has more than 3.5 GW of total battery energy storage under contract.
Battery energy storage allows PG&E and other utilities to store excess solar or wind power for use later in the evening to displace natural gas-fired resources that would otherwise be dispatched to serve the evening peak.
In addition to large, grid-scale battery energy storage, PG&E connects hundreds to thousands of new, behind-the-meter battery energy storage systems to its grid every month. Through January 2024, behind-the-meter battery storage systems among PG&E customers totaled more than 670 MW — 35% of the nation’s behind-the-meter storage capacity.
PG&E Co., a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation, is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. The company’s hydroelectric system is one of the largest investor-owned hydroelectric system in the nation, PG&E said. It is built along 16 river basins that stretch nearly 500 miles. The system uses water from more than 100 reservoirs and features 67 powerhouses with a total capacity of about 3,900 MW.
