PG&E 2014 Annual Report Download - page 5

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A LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN
Throughout 2014, we worked relentlessly to strengthen our safety culture and our operations. We raised our reliability and
customer service to new levels. We delivered energy that is among the cleanest in the nation. And in all of these efforts, we
remained intent on ensuring the ongoing affordability of our service.
These and other accomplishments made 2014 a strong year and underscored that PG&E continues to move in the right direction.
Importantly, our customers are seeing this same progress. PG&E’s customer satisfaction improved last year to the highest level
since 2009, surpassing our goal and giving us further afrmation that we are doing the right work – and doing the work right.
Our vision is to be the nation’s leading utility. To get there, our team is working every day to ensure we are doing what is necessary
to provide the safe, reliable and affordable energy that customers expect, both today and tomorrow.
As one sign of our momentum, last year we became one of the rst natural gas utilities to earn two respected international safety
certications—ISO 55001 and PAS 55-1—which require us to meet rigorous standards for managing our gas pipelines and other
physical assets. Indeed, Lloyd’s Register, which reviewed our compliance with these standards, certied PG&E as a best-in-class
gas system operator.
Other examples of progress on safety included improving emergency response times, nding and xing leaks faster thanks to new
technology and better processes, and completing our system-wide program to replace cast-iron pipe in our distribution system—a
major safety milestone.
On electric reliability, we delivered record performance for the sixth consecutive year. The typical PG&E customer experienced
fewer outages than ever, and service was restored faster than ever. We achieved this despite being tested by strong winter storms
and the most powerful earthquake to hit our service area in 25 years.
Credit for these results goes rst to our people. But behind the scenes, new technology is also helping to make our system stronger
and more resilient. Investments from SmartMetersTM and intelligent switches to last year’s opening of the rst of three planned
state-of-the-art electric distribution control centers are all playing a role in better reliability.
The year also included signicant accomplishments in our energy supply business. PG&E continued to deliver energy that is
among the cleanest of any utility in the nation. In 2014, 27 percent of the electricity we delivered to customers came from solar,
wind and other renewable energy resources, putting us on track to meet California’s 33 percent goal by 2020. Our combination of
renewables with our hydroelectric and nuclear resources means that more than half of our power again came from sources that emit
no greenhouse gases.
Our leadership on clean energy also includes supporting options for our customers. PG&E has interconnected more than 150,000
solar rooftops—more than any other utility in the country by a wide margin. And early this year, we won approval for a new
program that will allow us to offer customers a choice to purchase 100 percent renewable power.
We are proud of the strides we made in 2014. At the same time, everyone at PG&E understands that we have more work ahead.
Looking forward, we see tremendous opportunity to build on these successes and create the foundation for the safe, reliable,
affordable and clean energy future our customers expect.
California and its utilities have shown a strong commitment to leadership on energy innovation. Recently, in fact, California
Governor Jerry Brown set out an even more ambitious vision for increasing the state’s use of renewable energy, improving energy
efciency and reducing gasoline consumption.
Realizing these goals will require that we continue working to create a 21st-century electric grid. From renewables and energy
storage to electric vehicles and smart homes and appliances, the grid is the platform for integrating and optimizing a growing
array of new technologies. As such, ongoing innovation and investment in utility infrastructure is critical to California’s ability to
achieve its environmental, energy productivity and energy security goals.