PG&E CEO Patti Poppe talks about monthly bills, reliability and more

OAKLAND — In April 2024, PG&E Chief Executive Officer Patti Poppe revealed a vow to dramatically change the direction of skyrocketing monthly bills. Poppe said PG&E officials envisioned “a future where customers’ bills can start to come down.” She articulated that optimistic outlook at a time when monthly bills had been rising by 20% a year. This news organization recently interviewed Poppe about PG&E’s status, including the new reality of bills flattening out or even falling.

Q: Quite a few people thought it was far-fetched for you to predict a flatter or even lower utility bills.

A: As we promised, we were going to be lowering prices. We have done that five times in the last two years. Prices are down 13%. For the most vulnerable customers, prices are down 23%.

Q: How have you been able to achieve the shift in bills?

A: We are changing how we are doing our work. We are working smarter while lowering prices.

Q: Would a major factor be the disappearance from the monthly bills of certain items?

A: Some long-term costs are out of the bills.

Q: Would you say PG&E is taking a longer-term approach to making the electricity system and gas system safer?

A: We are hardening our system, such as by burying power lines. That reduces risk. We are using low-cost sensors to tell us where there are problems in a line. We can see failures before they happen. Electricity system reliability increased by 19% in 2025 compared with 2024. By using drones, we have increased safety inspections 600%. We have more eyes on the system.

Q: Is this part of a shifting mindset at PG&E?

A: Yes. We need to get out of the disaster response business and get into the disaster prevention business. That is cheaper for customers.

Q: What about future proceedings before the California Public Utilities Commission? Might those decisions take bills higher?

A: When we filed our general rate case, which would cover 2027 to 2030, we showed that even if that request was fully approved by the PUC, rates could go down in 2026 and be flat starting in 2027 compared with 2025. We factored in all of the proceedings. We are optimistic that rates will be flat or lower.

Q: PG&E is receiving criticism about the company’s profits and profit outlook. How do you answer those critics?

A: 90% of a customer’s bill doesn’t have anything to do with profits. It has to do with pass-through costs. Purchased power, wholesale natural gas, income taxes, interest expense on debt, operating and maintenance expenses. We can grow profits and still lower bills.

Q: There’s a lot of talk about data centers to power the tech industry and artificial intelligence. How does PG&E fit into this?

A: Data center connections are one of the best things to happen to the grid. We are forecasting for every gigawatt of new electricity demand that can lower electric bills by 1% to 2%. We have about 3.6 gigawatts of applications in final engineering phase. We think about half of that, 1.8 gigawatts, will come online by 2030. We have another eight gigawatts of applications.

Q: Is that demand primarily tech-related?

A: As large tech companies and even small tech companies use more computing power, they need more electricity. That is actually great news for the grid. Tech companies can help us rebuild an aging infrastructure.

Q: Demand usually causes prices for a product, service, or commodity to rise. Are there concerns that might happen with this?

A: Our residential customers will not subsidize this new demand on the grid.

Q: Have you experienced difficulty in getting permits for major electricity projects?

A: So far, so good. We are keeping up with demand.

Q: What are some of PG&E’s biggest opportunities?

A: What really matters to us is rebuilding trust with our customers. We love serving our customers. When bills were going up, we know we disappointed our customers. We are trying to turn every corner we can and find every savings we can achieve. Trust takes years to gain and is lost in minutes.

PATTI POPPE

Company/Organization: PG&E Corporation

Job: CEO

Age: 57

Birthplace: Michigan

Residence: East Bay

Education: Purdue University: bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in industrial engineering; Stanford University Graduate School of Business: master's degree in management

Family: Husband and two daughters

FIVE THINGS ABOUT PATTI POPPE

1. Patti is the youngest of seven daughters. With Patti, her father finally got his wish for a child to follow in his path as an engineer.

2. Patti leads with love and believes that love works in the actions her PG&E coworkers take for each other and for customers every day.

3. Patti’s and her husband's initial life plan was to run his family farm in Nebraska.

4. Patti subscribes to the Japanese philosophy of Ikigai for living a purposeful life: Get paid for your work, do what you're good at, do what you love, and do what the world needs.

5. Both of her daughters – who are also engineers – were on their high school FIRST Robotics teams. In fact, one loves robotics so much that she married her robotics sweetheart.

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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 8:18 AM.