Locals in the San Francisco Bay Area have felt a lot of pain from their PGE electric bills this month. If your bill felt insane, you’re not alone.
Amid historically high bills, locals have noted something that’s provoked a lot of anger: the very high salary of PGE’s CEO Patricia Poppe.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Poppe earned $17 million in total compensation in 2023.
As Bay Area locals struggle with bills that topped $1000 in many cases in July of this year, that very high salary isn’t sitting right with many people.
In reply to a story about high electric prices, a person identifying as a local who goes by “DJ” wrote “PGE has been allowed to claim bankruptcy twice in the last 15 years and only after being allowed to go ahead and pay record high bonuses to CEO’S and AFTER being convicted for a death. Our bills are too high not because of just rate increases and hot weather. People are paying 2, 3 and 6 times higher bills because PGE has neglected responsibilities in line management and everywhere else in that place.”
Another reader wrote “CEO’s, COO’s, upper management, bonuses, stockholders. this is where all your money is going.”
Reader Swany05 simply wrote “Gavin Newson, CPUC and Patricia Poppe” as the reasons for PGE’s very high bills.
To be clear, Poppe’s salary is $1.4 million–still a very high amount, but not as high as the $17 million figure.
The extra funds come from bonuses that Poppe earned from meeting goals about wildfire reductions and other “operational” metrics. Her compensation (which is reportedly not paid from customer bills) does not appear tied to any metrics about the cost of electricity for PGE’s customers.
That lack of focus on the high cost of power is likely what’s angering many customers.
It’s important to understand that PGE is a publicly traded company, not part of the government. Like most companies, it’s likely obliged to place the needs of its shareholders first. The Chronicle also reports that Poppe’s $17 million salary is about in the middle of the pack in terms of similar utilities nationwide.
That’s unlikely to satisfy PGE’s struggling customers, especially as the company earns record profits.
One possible solution would be to tie executive pay–at least partially–to measurements of customer satisfaction or cost reductions. Poppe could thus keep her salary (or even increase it) by serving customers’ interests more directly, or by finding ways to reduce the cost of power for consumers.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
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I cringe every time I watch a PG&E commercial telling me how great they are. I would prefer no commercials and lower rates to show greatness.
Hi my name is Kellie Buster and I am the founder and president of Stop PG$E! We are a grassroots movement who is catching on fire as I type! We have over 3700 members and growing rapidly! The time is now for we the Californians to take back our money from politicians unethical businesses and big corporations! We are talking to everyone! Goal is to get all 16 million ratepayers on board and become a political powerhouse! I would suggest the politicians take notice if you were given money from PG$E you will not get our vote! It’s time to clean up this mess you’ve all aloud!