Why Does my Electric Company Need to Advertise?

Source: NPR Marketplace  |  By Janet Nguyen

Late last year, PG&E ran ads about its decision to bury 10,000 miles of power lines underground as a safety measure against wildfires. The company spent up to $6 million on TV ads like these over the past couple of years, The Sacramento Bee reported. PG&E asked the California Public Utilities Commission for a taxpayer-funded “fire risk mitigation account”  to cover those costs, The Bee reported. When asked for comment on its advertising practices, a PG&E spokesperson stated that the company advertises to share with its customers what it’s doing “to improve safety and reliability.” “The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) allows the recovery of some costs related to safety communications on television. If not, then the costs are covered by shareholders,” the spokesperson stated.  It’s difficult, if not impossible, to determine how much of your money utilities are spending on advertising. 

“Other than to say untold millions, we don’t know because it’s very hard to document it. Utilities don’t want to let us know,” said Mark Toney, executive director of the California consumer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network.