PG&E Customers Can Access, Understand, and
Make Informed Decisions about their Electricity Usage from the Home
App on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch
OAKLAND,
Calif., Sept. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- With the
release of Apple's latest software updates, residential Pacific Gas
and Electric Company (PG&E) electric customers with an iPhone,
iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch now have access to new electricity usage
features within the Home app. Customers can now connect their
PG&E account to the Home app, enabling them to access,
understand, and make informed decisions about electricity use.
Being familiar with how electricity is measured and how usage
shifts over time can help customers better understand their home
energy use and potential changes they can make to save money and
energy.
"The collaboration between PG&E and Apple puts electricity
usage data directly into customer's hands, providing further
visibility into when electricity is cleanest and lowest cost, and
ultimately helping our customers save on their energy bills while
reducing emissions," said Mike
Delaney, vice president, Utility Partnerships and
Innovation, PG&E.
Electricity Usage Features in the Home App
The new
Electricity Usage feature in the Home app includes daily and weekly
views, providing direct insight on how much electricity is used,
and how it changes by the hour and day-to-day. It takes
approximately 48 hours for usage information to appear in the app,
so customers can see their usage starting two days earlier and then
extending to monthly and yearly views for longer-term
comparisons.
The updated Home app provides a snapshot of the percentage of
electricity used during both Peak and Off-Peak hours.
- Electricity costs are dependent on how much a customer uses,
when they use it, and their rate plan. Residential PG&E
customers default to Time-of-Use rate plans, which means rates vary
at different times of the day, based on the demand for
electricity.
- Peak (typically 4:00-9:00 p.m.)
is when rates and demand are higher. Off-Peak (typically
12:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. and 9 p.m.-12:00 a.m.) is when rates and demand are
lower.
The Home app also includes a Grid Forecast feature, which
highlights times of the day when electricity from cleaner sources,
such as solar or wind power, is available on the grid.
- PG&E's energy mix is one of the cleanest in the nation: 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 and wind, small hydroelectric generation
and biopower. PG&E retail customers also received 53% of their
electric deliveries from carbon-free nuclear power generated by
Diablo Canyon Power Plant, and 13% from large hydroelectric
power.
What Impacts Electricity Usage?
The size of a
customer's home, how it was built, and the local climate are some
of the factors that impact how much electricity is used. Heating
and cooling systems, appliances, and lighting are also significant
factors in determining electricity usage.
Knowing what consumes the most electricity in the home can also
help customers maximize usage during cleaner and less expensive
hours of the day.
- Cooling and heating systems, water heaters, electric vehicle
charging, electric vehicle charging, refrigerators, washers and
dryers, and incandescent or halogen lighting are considered some of
the highest electricity consumers.
- Ceiling fans, dishwashers, toaster ovens, TVs, laptops, and LED
or fluorescent lighting are considered lower electricity
consumers.
Connecting a Residential PG&E Account to the Home
App
Residential customers can connect their PG&E account
to the Home app on iPhone, iPad, or Mac running the latest
software.1 To connect a PG&E account to the Home app
on iPhone, follow these instructions:
1. Go to the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap the Home tab, then tap Home Settings.
3. Tap Energy, then tap Connect Account.
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to link your PG&E
account.
Once these steps have been completed, the Electricity Usage
feature will begin syncing energy usage data, which may take a few
hours to appear.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a
subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a combined
natural gas and electric utility serving more than sixteen million
people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information,
visit pge.com and pge.com/news
1 Residential PG&E customers can connect their
PG&E account to the Home app on iPhone running iOS 18 and
later, iPad running iPadOS 18 and later, and Mac running macOS
Sequoia and later.
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SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company
