SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today announced the cost to participate in its 100 percent solar energy program has dropped by 30 percent for residential customers and by nearly 50 percent for some business customers. This significant cost reduction in the company’s Solar Choice program is thanks in part to PG&E’s continued investment in clean energy infrastructure throughout its service area, including eight new solar sites being built for the program by renewable developers in Northern and Central California.

PG&E’s Solar Choice program offers a new way for PG&E customers to go solar – without installing rooftop solar panels. Through the program, residential and business customers can go solar by purchasing up to 100 percent of their electricity from solar energy generated in PG&E’s service area.

For the average household using 500 kilowatt-hours of energy and participating in PG&E’s Solar Choice program at 100 percent, the price to participate in the program last year was approximately $18 per month. Now, it is about $13 per month. Customers can participate in the 50 percent solar program for half the cost. An online tool is available to help customers estimate this charge based on their energy usage.

“PG&E’s Solar Choice is all about giving our customers more options when it comes to clean energy. By sourcing new local solar developments in the communities we are privileged to serve, more customers who want to support California’s clean energy future can now do so at a lower cost. This is a win for our customers, and a win for the state’s ambitious clean energy goals,” said Aaron Johnson, vice president of PG&E’s Customer Energy Solutions.

New solar sites for program

PG&E is procuring more clean energy on behalf of its Solar Choice customers from eight new solar sites in Northern and Central California. PG&E is working with the renewable developers that are building the new solar sites in cities across PG&E’s service area. At this time, PG&E has procured nearly 53 megawatts of new solar capacity on behalf of customers who are enrolled in the Solar Choice program.

The renewable developers building the new sites include 8minutenergy Renewables, AES Distributed Energy, Green Light Energy Corporation, ImMODO Energy Services, Mirasol Development, Recurrent Energy and Solar Frontier Americas Development LLC.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/ and pge.com/news.

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Source: Pacific Gas and Electric Company