Residential PG&E Customers Can Now Easily Access Electricity Usage Data from Apple Home App

Rhea-AI Summary

PG&E has partnered with Apple to provide residential electric customers access to new electricity usage features within the Home app. This collaboration allows customers to connect their PG&E account to the app, enabling them to monitor and understand their electricity consumption on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.

The Home app now includes daily and weekly usage views, showing electricity consumption patterns and changes over time. It also displays the percentage of electricity used during Peak and Off-Peak hours, helping customers understand their usage in relation to Time-of-Use rate plans. Additionally, a Grid Forecast feature highlights times when cleaner energy sources are available on the grid.

This initiative aims to help customers save money and reduce emissions by providing insights into their energy usage and encouraging consumption during cleaner and less expensive hours.

Positive

• Integration with Apple Home app provides customers with easy access to electricity usage data
• Customers can make informed decisions about energy consumption, potentially leading to cost savings
• Grid Forecast feature promotes use of cleaner energy sources
• PG&E's energy mix is one of the cleanest in the nation, with 34% from renewable resources and 53% from carbon-free nuclear power in 2023

Negative

• None.

Insights

Energy Technology Expert

PG&E's integration with Apple's Home app represents a significant step in consumer energy management. This collaboration allows customers to visualize their electricity usage patterns and understand peak vs. off-peak consumption. The inclusion of a Grid Forecast feature is particularly innovative, enabling users to align their energy use with cleaner power sources.

This technology empowers consumers to make data-driven decisions about their energy consumption, potentially leading to reduced bills and lower carbon footprints. The 48-hour delay in data availability is a minor drawback, but the long-term tracking capabilities offer valuable insights for users to optimize their energy habits.

From an industry perspective, this partnership between a major utility and a tech giant could set a new standard for user-friendly energy management tools, potentially influencing other utilities to follow suit.

Financial Analyst

While this initiative doesn't directly impact PG&E's immediate financial performance, it has potential long-term benefits. By providing customers with tools to manage their energy use more efficiently, PG&E could see reduced peak demand, leading to lower infrastructure costs and improved grid stability.

Moreover, this customer-centric approach could enhance customer satisfaction and retention, which is important in markets with increasing competition from alternative energy providers. The partnership with Apple also positions PG&E as an innovative utility, potentially attracting environmentally conscious customers and investors.

However, if successful in reducing energy consumption, this could lead to lower revenue from electricity sales. PG&E will need to balance this with potential cost savings and regulatory incentives for promoting energy efficiency.

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

FAQ

How can PG&E customers access their electricity usage data through the Apple Home app?

PG&E customers can access their electricity usage data by connecting their PG&E account to the Home app on iPhone, iPad, or Mac running the latest software. The process involves going to the Home app, tapping on Home Settings, selecting Energy, and then following the onscreen instructions to link the PG&E account.

What features does the new Electricity Usage function in the Apple Home app offer for PG&E customers?

The new Electricity Usage feature in the Apple Home app offers daily and weekly views of electricity consumption, insights on usage changes by hour and day, percentage of electricity used during Peak and Off-Peak hours, and a Grid Forecast feature highlighting times when cleaner energy sources are available on the grid.

How does PG&E's integration with the Apple Home app help customers save money and reduce emissions?

The integration helps customers save money and reduce emissions by providing visibility into when electricity is cleanest and lowest cost. It allows customers to make informed decisions about their energy use, potentially shifting consumption to off-peak hours when rates are lower and cleaner energy sources are more available.

What percentage of PG&E's electricity came from renewable resources in 2023?

In 2023, 34% of PG&E's total electricity delivered to retail customers came from specified eligible-renewable resources, including solar, wind, small hydroelectric generation, and biopower.