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             California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Avenue, Room 5301            San Francisco, CA 94102
CONTACT: Dianne Dienstein             November 6, 1996  CPUC - 75
         415-703-2423                  (A.94-12-005 /I.95-02-015)

 CPUC FINES PG&E FOR INADEQUATE CUSTOMER CALL CENTER OPERATIONS

    The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today fined
Pacific Gas & Electric $480,000 for failing to make timely
improvements to its customer call centers and customer
communication practices.  The fine will be paid to the State
Treasury's General Fund.
    During January and March 1995 rainstorms, hundreds of
customers complained to the Commission that they couldn't get
through to PG&E to report extensive outages or unsafe conditions
or got incorrect information when they did.  The Commission
investigated PG&E's customer call response and ordered the
utility to make the following improvements by December 31, 1995:
O  average wait of less than 20 seconds to speak to a
   representative.
O  busy signal less than one percent of the time during normal
   operations and less than three percent during outages.
O  monthly reports to CPUC on daily and monthly call center
   performance.
O  more training for customer service representatives to enable
   them to understand and identify potential service and safety
   problems; and make sure backup call center employees have
   adequate orientation to PG&E's service area and customers.
O  use radio announcements to give customers timely information
   during emergencies.
    Severe storms again hit the state in November and December
1995, and continuing problems with PG&E's responsiveness to
customer calls prompted a follow-up Commission investigation into
whether PG&E had complied with its previous order.  Today, the
Commission concluded that PG&E had not fully complied because it
                            - more -
had failed to attain an average time between a customer's
selection of a voicemail menu item and connection to that
selection of less than 20 seconds, and busy signals less than one
percent during normal operations and less than three percent
during outages.
    The $480,000 fine represents the maximum penalty, under
Public Utilities Code sections 2107 and 2108, of $20,000/day for
the 24 days between November 6 and November 30, 1995.
    The Commission noted that an unusually harsh storm in
December probably contributed significantly to PG&E's failure to
comply in December, and also complicated the Commission's ability
to fairly evaluate the standard it set as a reasonable measure
for periods of relative normalcy.  Thus, the Commission declined
to fine PG&E for noncompliance in December.
    In its decision, the Commission noted that $480,000 is a
small fine for such a large company and the corresponding rate
reduction would be so small it would be undetected by PG&E's 4.2
million customers.  However, the Commission intends by imposing
the penalty to "signal our intent to impose penalties, large or
small, where they are warranted," and more importantly to
motivate compliance with Commission orders, particularly those
affecting service quality or safety.
    The Commission has continued this proceeding to evaluate the
reasonableness of PG&E's handling both of call center response
and of service restoration during the December 1995 storm
outages.  Evidentiary hearings began in June.
    While the Commission found PG&E failed to meet call center
response standards in November and December 1995, since that
time, the utility has made significant progress in meeting the
standards with customer waits of between 10-14 seconds to speak
with a PG&E representative, and no busy signals from February
through May 1996.
    The Commission noted it imposed call response standards more
stringent than any imposed on other utilities and acknowledged
they are difficult to achieve.  The Commission believes PG&E's
February - May 1996 record suggests future failures to achieve
the standards should be unlikely.  However, the Commission will
continue to monitor PG&E's compliance, and if it does fail to
meet the standards, the Commission will consider additional
penalties.                                               ###