Delivering a Rates Experience that Successfully Drives Adoption

At the recent IUCX 2025 conference in Phoenix, AZ, PG&E’s Andrew Au and GridX’s Scott Engstrom presented on the success of PG&E’s transition to Time of Use (TOU) rates.

As part of a statewide effort to create a cleaner energy future, in October 2020 PG&E began offering its customers one of multiple TOU rate plans, including:

Because customers have been accustomed to paying a flat rate for energy, communicating the change and impact of using energy at different times of the day is critical to success. So, to support their transition, PG&E emphasized delivering highly personalized rate and cost analysis to their customers. Providing these insights was central to its marketing, education, and outreach (ME&O) strategy, which was designed to prepare both business and residential customers for the transition to TOU rates. PG&E’s marketing push combined traditional channels like its MyAccount page, physical mailers and emails, with innovative digital applications like smart watch alerts and Amazon Alexa prompts.

The results have been impressive and a testament to the approach that PG&E took. For one, surveys showed that PG&E customers understood the details of the TOU transition.

And as a result, an evaluation in 2021 found significant peak load reductions:

• E-TOU-C (4 to 9 p.m every day): ~2.8%
• E-TOU-D (5 to 8 p.m. on weekdays): ~7.0%
• EV2-A (whole house EV rate): ~14.7 percent

The EELEC rate, which is designed for customers that own any number of electrified devices, including EVs and heat pumps, has achieved a 97% retention rate. It has also saved customers money despite increased usage.

Additionally, small business and agricultural customers saved nearly $10 million in 2023 by selecting and succeeding on their optimal rate. PG&E also saw a significant increase in satisfaction amongst these customers, allowing them to outpace their peers. These are great success stories of customer education and engagement!

The success of this program has also helped pave the way for more innovative rate

structures in PG&E’s service territory, with the company now pursuing several Hourly Flex Pricing programs and pilots.

In the near future they are also working with GridX to launch the Clean Energy Calculator, which is designed to increase adoption of clean energy technology by allowing customers to easily configure options and immediately see the cumulative bill impact of their energy scenarios in dollars and cents.​ This gives customers peace of mind by allowing them to assess whether other rate offerings can save them money and enables customers to save multiple energy scenarios in a ‘cart-like’ experience, set reminders and trigger key steps in the enrollment path.

PG&E continually looks to the future for cutting edge solutions to improve their business and engage authentically with their customers. They leverage data-driven insights and personalized, compelling customer outreach to maximize rate and program performance. GridX is proud to be a partner of PG&E in this effort.