We're doing more so our impact on the environment is less

Pacific Gas and Electric Company - www.pge.com

Pacific Gas and Electric Company is one of the largest investor-owned utilities in the United States, providing electric and natural gas service to a population of nearly 14 million people throughout Northern and Central California. We have long been committed to serving our customers in ways that minimize environmental impacts. PG&E is committed to doing our part to protect the environment and to help forge a new, cleaner energy future.

Energy Efficiency Inside and Out
Pacific Gas and Electric Company is proud of the contributions we have made to help California achieve its leadership position on energy efficiency. California has the lowest per capita electricity consumption in the United States, and PG&E has played a pivotal role in making that happen.

PG&E's customer energy efficiency programs have provided lifecycle savings of over 135 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity, enough to supply 21 millions homes for an entire year, and prevented the release of nearly 50 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. In 2004 alone, we administered 27 energy efficiency programs that avoided annual environmental impacts of 324,400 tons of CO2, 187 tons of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and 114 tons of sulfur oxides (SOx); paid customers in excess of $57 million in energy efficiency rebates; and achieved savings of 117 megawatts (MW), or 620,000 MWh - enough electricity to power more than 91,000 homes for a year.

In addition, we conducted studies that supported the adoption of new energy efficiency standards for electric appliances. The annual electricity saved as a result of these new standards will be close to 665,000 MWh statewide, which translates into avoided annual environmental impacts of 398,000 tons of CO2, 200 tons of NOx, and 122 tons of SO2.

We also recognize that we are not merely a provider of these vital services, but we are a consumer as well. Just as we have established programs and initiatives to help our customers save energy, we have done the same for ourselves. Since 1999, we reduced our natural gas and electric consumption at our major facilities by nearly 12 percent and reduced energy intensity per square foot by approximately 15 percent.

Clean Energy Technologies
While serving nearly 5 percent of the U.S. population, we emit less than 1 percent of the U.S. CO2 emissions associated with the generation of electric power. In 2004, the CO2 emissions rate of our owned electric generation was approximately 48 lbs CO2/MWh, while the CO2 emissions rate associated with the power we sold to customers was approximately 500 lbs CO2/MWh. In contrast, the national average CO2 emissions rate for all power generation was approximately 1,400 lbs CO2/MWh. Currently 12 percent of our power mix comes from California-eligible renewable sources, while nearly half of our retail electricity sales come from sources that emit no carbon dioxide.

And, we are working with our customers to meet their electric needs using power generated from renewable resources. Through our Self- Generation Incentive Program and our Solar Schools Program, we are working with our commercial and institutional customers to deploy on-site renewable generation technologies such as photovoltaic solar electric systems and fuel cell technology.

Driving Toward a Cleaner Future
PG&E has a fleet of nearly 11,000 vehicles and a service area that covers more than half of the state of California. One of the ways in which we are helping to clean the air and address climate change is through promoting alternative-fueled vehicles, both for our own use and that of our customers. Our fleet consists of nearly 900 vehicles that run on cleaner burning compressed natural gas and we support 170 public and private fleets operating approximately 3,800 natural gas vehicles, including buses, taxis and emergency vehicles.

Understanding and Addressing Our Emissions
As a first step toward better understanding our greenhouse gas emission profile, PG&E became a Charter Member of the California Climate Action Registry. Under the auspices of the Registry, we became the first investorowned utility in California to complete and certify our entity-wide CO2 emissions; and, by the end of 2006, we will have completed and certified our entity-wide emissions of all six greenhouse gases.

Although we are still in the process of understanding our overall greenhouse gas emissions profile, we recognized that steps could be taken immediately to address our greenhouse gas emissions in a way that both improved the efficiency of our operations and saved money. For example, we joined both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SF6 Partnership Program and Natural Gas STAR Program as charter members. Since entering into these partnerships, we have reduced our SF6 emissions by more than 50 percent and prevented the release of more than 7 billion cubic feet of natural gas. And, in 2004, PG&E lent technical expertise to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's SF6 Work Group, to help inform measurement and reporting activities of country governments, as well as international entities.

Looking to the Future
PG&E is proud of its leadership in helping protect our environment through energy efficiency, clean power sources, and clean air transportation. We look forward to continuing our leadership in these areas and in helping to lay the foundation for a new energy future for the U.S. and the world.

For more information : www.pge.com