OAKLAND, California — The utility company PG&E says it will support customers who suffered hardship amid the federal government shutdown, which temporarily curtailed funding for several critical safety net programs.
“We are concerned any time our customers are having trouble paying a bill. So we have put multiple steps in place to help those who are suffering hardship,” said David McCulloch, Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at PG&E, in an interview with American Community Media.
The Senate voted to end the government shutdown Nov. 10 and the House did the same Nov. 12 afternoon. But as the federal government re-opens this week, PG&E customers accessing federal safety net programs — such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps roughly 6 million low-income families pay their utility bills through federal grants — may still experience financial hardship due to weeks of lost assistance during the shutdown.
President Donald Trump fired the entire staff of the LIHEAP program on April 1, and called for the program to end. However, Congress has allocated $4.2 billion to LIHEAP through fiscal year 2026.
Supporting Customers
In an interview Nov. 7 on the sidelines of ACoM’s annual Expo and Awards ceremony at PG&E headquarters in Oakland, McCulloch noted several PG&E programs aiming to address financial hardship. One such program is “Match My Payment,” available to low-income customers with a past-due balance of over $100. For every dollar the customer pays towards an overdue balance, PG&E matches it, up to $1,000.
A similar program is the Relief for Energy Assistance through Community Help — REACH — which helps low-income families who have received a disconnection notice, with an energy credit up to $300.
“The most important thing is if there are customers who are suffering hardship, get in touch with us. Don’t suffer and feel like there aren’t solutions that we can offer you,” said McCulloch. “If you can’t pay your bill right now, we can help you with a payment plan. We absolutely want to help. We don’t want anybody to be suffering hardship during the shutdown or any other time,” he said.
Scams
PG&E partnered with several sports franchises to provide meals to families suffering from temporary cuts to SNAP amid the shutdown. “Food security is something we’re really concerned about,” said McCulloch. The energy company also has a “budget billing” program, which allows customers to spread out their utility costs over the year, so that each monthly bill looks roughly the same.
Ahead of the ACOM Expo and Awards ceremony, PG&E held a media briefing addressing the newest utility-related scams. Matt Foley, a cyber security analyst at PG&E said 25,000 scams have been reported to PG&E; customers have paid out more than $442,000. Immigrants and elderly people are disproportionately impacted by cyber scams.
In a typical scam, a caller will pose as a PG&E agent and demand that a payment must be made the same day, via a wire transfer or gift cards. “PG&E will never call to collect a balance,” said Foley. He also pointed to an uptick in people posing as PG&E agents, showing up at people’s homes and asking for information from their energy bill.
Phishing
“Contract signing never occurs at the front door,” said Foley, encouraging people to simply close their doors without passing on any information. Similarly, emails purporting to be from PG&E may also be phishing scams designed to elicit personal information — including social security numbers and home addresses — which can be used in other scams.
Pleasant Hill Police Detective Stephen Vuong, who is also a member of the USSS Cyber Fraud Task Force, reported a new scam in which the caller notes they have dialed a wrong number but then attempts to form an alliance, asking: “can we still be friends?”
”Over a period of time, they will try to build a relationship and trust with the goal of getting the victim to invest money,” said Vuong. There is a similar rise in text scams, in which the perpetrator sends a friendly message. Victims often respond, believing it is someone they know.
Impersonation Scams
Vuong also noted the rise of impersonation scams, in which a caller will pretend to be from the local Sheriff’s Department. The perpetrator will tell the victim their bank account has been used for money laundering and that they will go to jail, unless they pay a fine immediately.
He noted victims who have lost their entire life savings. The perpetrators come back again, saying they can help recoup some of the loss if the victim pays out more money.
Payment demands by gift cards, cryptocurrency, and those who offer to come pick up money are obvious signs of a scam, said Vuong. Lots of suspects are overseas, which makes arrests almost impossible, he noted. Victims can report incidents to the Federal Trade Commission, the FBI, and their local law enforcement.
The briefing ended as reporters were escorted to the roof at PG&E headquarters to watch one of the company’s drones in action. PG&E is using AI-enabled drones for a variety of remote tasks, such as inspecting gas and electric infrastructure; looking for gas pipeline leaks; and stringing power lines. The company currently deploys 140 drones in its service areas.
