Starting on May 12, 2025, PG&E is requiring all customers to update their login information to meet more stringent security requirements. You need to take steps to ensure continued access to your PG&E account for yourself and for providers like Gridium who help you manage your energy use.
Although the planned changes will bring some benefits to customers, they unfortunately also may cause disruptions unless you take steps in advance to prepare.
This document will walk you through the steps to ensure that you maintain access to your online PG&E account.
If you use the PG&E online portal to pay your utility bills, your ability to make timely payments could be affected by the change. The changes will also affect service providers like Gridium who aggregate your energy data from PG&E and other utility accounts. Gridium uses your energy data to provide valuable services such as equipment fault detection, demand forecasting, and budgeting.
(Note that the updates only affect your online PG&E account. They do not affect your electricity or gas service, which will continue uninterrupted throughout the transition.)
Frequently asked questions
What’s happening with my PG&E login?
On May 12, 2025, PG&E will retire existing customer logins and replace them with new ones that have enhanced security features. The new logins require up-to-date contact information, including a phone number. You can provide a mobile phone number or a landline, but toll-free (800) numbers or numbers that include an extension are not allowed.
You must also make sure that the email address you use to log into the PG&E website is up to date. Many customers set up their online PG&E accounts years ago, and the email address on record may no longer be valid. Now is the time to make sure PG&E has a working email address and phone number for your organization.
When existing PG&E logins are retired on May 12, you will no longer be able to log into the PG&E website to pay your bills or manage your account until you verify your identity. If you have not provided PG&E with valid contact information, including a phone number, you will be locked out of your online account. Prepare now to maintain access.
Why is PG&E doing this?
The goal of the changes is to improve account security while making it easier to share data when you want to.
PG&E is adding new security features to its website, include multi-factor authentication (MFA). To meet these security requirements, you will need to provide PG&E with a valid phone number and email address.
PG&E is also adding features to their website that will make it easier to manage multiple account holders and to share data with third parties like Gridium.
What is multi-factor authentication?
Multi-factor authentication (also known as two-factor authentication or 2FA) is a form of electronic security for online accounts. By requiring users to provide two distinct pieces of information to access an account, it adds an extra layer of protection. You can learn more about this increasingly popular security method on the FTC’s site on multi-factor authentication.
How will this change affect Gridium?
Your organization uses Gridium to aggregate your energy data from a number of sources, including the PG&E website. Some of your energy billing data will stop updating until you restore your PG&E login and re-establish access for Gridium. Missing data will affect certain features of the Gridium software, such as the ability to generate accurate budget forecasts.
What do I need to do before May 12?
To prepare for the PG&E website update, you need submit a verified email address and phone number to PG&E prior to the changeover. PG&E wants a single verified email address and phone number for your entire organization. See detailed instructions below.
The phone number can be either a mobile phone or a landline, but it can’t be a toll-free number or include an extension. It has to be a direct line that can receive a text message or automated phone call.
We have provided details instructions below, and we are available to help you through the process. Please reach out to us at support@gridium.com for assistance, or contact your Gridium account representative directly.
Whose contact info should we submit for verification?
Anyone in your organization can serve as the verified contact. This person will be responsible for verifying their login on or after May 12. After that, you will be able to add as many additional account holders as you want.
What if multiple people in my organization need access to PG&E?
Many organizations have multiple stakeholders who need online access to PG&E. For example, your accounts payable department may use the portal to managing your billing.
The verified contact is only responsible for completing the security process that will take place on or after May 12. After verification is complete, you can add as many additional account holders as desired.
Instructions for preparing for the update
Complete the following steps to prepare for the upcoming changeover. If you would like assistance or have questions, please reach out to us at support@gridium.com.
Step 1: Choose a verified contact
You may have several active PG&E logins belonging to different people in your organization. For the changeover, you need to choose a single contact to go through the verification process. After verifying their indentity, this contact will be able to grant access to as many additional people in your organization as you like.
Anyone in your organization can be the verified contact. Ideally it should be someone who can take a few minutes on or after May 12 to complete the verification process.
Step 2: Update your contact information with PG&E
The process of updating your email address and phone number with PG&E is, unfortunately, somewhat messy. Your best option is to let Gridium do it for you. The other options all involve navigating PG&E’s website or telephone help line. We describe all the available options below, and we are happy to discuss any of them more in detail.
Option 1: let Gridium do it
If you want, Gridium will update your contact information with PG&E for you. Just provide us with the email address and phone number of the verified contact and we will take care of the rest. Depending on the details of your situation, we may need some additional information, but in any case we will guide the entire process. You can reach us at support@gridium.com.
Option 2: call the PG&E help center
If you want to update your contact information yourself, calling the PG&E help center is the most reliable method for doing so. A PG&E customer service rep will be able to help you sort through any complications that arise.
When contacting PG&E, you will need to provide the following information to help them locate your account:
- Account number
- Legal entity name
Both of these pieces of information can be found on the first page of a recent bill. If you don’t have a recent bill, Gridium can provide one:
You will need to provide PG&E with the following information:
- Verified contact name
- Verified contact email
- Verified contact phone number (direct, no extensions)
- Verified contact title
PG&E’s call center is open from 7am to 6pm Pacific, Monday through Friday. For shorter wait times, avoid the lunch hour:
- Call (800) 468-4743.
- You will be asked if you are reporting an emergency, such as a downed power line. Remain on the line.
- Press 5 (for “anything else”).
- When asked what you are calling about, say “online issue.” If asked to confirm, press 1.
- Press 2 (for “business”).
- Press 3 (for calls unrelated to solar).
Once you get through, let the service rep know that you would like to provide updated contact information for the upcoming website update. Some important details to note:
- Ask the PG&E representative to update the contact information for all of the PG&E electric services associated with your organization. Organizations often have more than one PG&E service, and you want to ensure that you maintain online access to all of them after the changeover.
- Some PG&E representatives have erroneously claimed that the contact phone must be a mobile number. This is not true. Land lines will work, as long as they are not toll-free and do not include an extension.
Option 3: website pop-up survey
A third option is to fill out the pop-up survey that sometimes appears when you log into the PG&E website:
This survey appears rarely, and there is no way to confirm that the information has been captured correctly by PG&E. For these reasons, the call center is a more reliable option.
Option 4: update your PG&E alerts
If the pop-up described in step 3 isn’t available, you can instead update the contact information in the “Profile & Alerts” section of your PG&E accounts. Unfortunately, this method can be fussy and tedious.
- Sign into your PG&E account and go to pge.com/myalerts. (Alternatively, sign in and click the “Edit Profiles and Alerts” button.)
- Go to “Email, Phone & Language”.
- Set the first email address in the list to be the verified email address. If the first slot already contains an email address, you can move the current value to the bottom of the list to preserve it. The important thing is that the verified email address must be in the first position.
- Set the primary phone number to be the verified phone number. As with the email address, any existing value can be moved down the list. The first spot has to be used for the verified contact.
- Repeat this process for every account linked to your login. Use the selector at the top of the page to check each energy account and ensure that the verified email address and phone number are always in the first position:
- Finally, update your online user name to match the verified email address. Go back to pge.com/myalerts.
- Under Profile, the “Change Username, Password” section lists your current user name.
- If the current user name matches the verified email address, you’re all set. Otherwise, click the “Change Username” link and change the user name to the verified email address.
There are a lot of steps to this process, and we recommend either having Gridium assist or calling into PG&E so that a customer service representative can make the necessary updates.
Step 3: Let Gridium know who the verified PG&E contact is
Email us at support@gridium.com to let us know who the verified PG&E contact is so we know where to send further instructions. Once the changeover takes place, Gridium will provide additional instructions for setting up your new PG&E login and restoring data access. Please include the contact’s name, email address, phone number, and title.
Step 4: Get ready for the transition on May 12
We will send out updates as the transition date gets closer. If you have multiple people in your organization who need access to the PG&E website, we recommend collecting the list now. Gridium can also provide you with a list of current account holders. If you are interested, just email us at support@gridium.com.