With California Governor Gavin Newsom's executive order calling for all individuals living in California to stay at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) recently announced the several steps the company has taken to protect the health and well-being of its employees, customers, and communities, and to maintain service reliability.
"We have a special responsibility to continue our operations in challenging times like these and the last thing we want our customers to worry about is having essential services like electricity and natural gas," said SDG&E Chief Operating Officer Caroline Winn. "The SDG&E has robust contingency plans in place to maintain reliable service and our highly skilled and dedicated employees will see our community through this crisis. The energy industry has a lot of real-world experience managing crises, and while COVID-19 is different, we are well prepared and here for you."
The company has taken several steps in recent days to support its employees and customers, including:
- Voluntarily suspending service disconnections because of nonpayment.
- Waiving late payment fees for business customers (residential customers do not have to pay late fees).
- Offering flexible payment plans for customers struggling to pay their bill.
- Closing branch office walk-in payment locations (a list of alternative payment locations may be accessed here).
- Postponing all noncritical planned outages while continuing with those related to public safety, emergencies, and wildfire mitigation.
- Having employees who are able to work remotely.
- Implementing additional protective hygiene and safety measures for employees working in the field.
- Providing updates to customers through social media and at sdge.com/coronavirus.
Winn added that while the company has enacted its emergency response plan, customers may see employees out in the public responding to emergencies and system upgrades related to public safety, and encouraged customers to call 1-800-411-7343 should they need assistance.
