Good morning. My name is Brian Wong, and I'm Corporate Secretary of PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company. It's my pleasure to welcome everyone to the company's joint annual meeting of shareholders today. Thank you for joining us. As you'll hear throughout our meeting, safety guides everything we do. It's how we conduct business and at the heart of all of our decisions and actions. In that spirit, we've already reviewed our safety plan for the room. This ensures that everyone knows how to remain safe in case of an emergency. For those joining us virtually, please take a moment to apprise yourself of your surroundings and review your safety plans, including what your exits are during an emergency. Thank you. Now I'm pleased to introduce Kerry Cooper, the Independent Chair of PG&E Corporation's Board of Directors.
Thanks, Brian, and good morning to all of you. On behalf of the boards and of the management team, welcome to the 2025 joint annual meeting of the shareholders of PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company. I will be serving as the Chair of the joint meeting, and I call the meeting to order. Voting is open. Also joining me today are Cheryl Campbell, Independent Chair of the Board of Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Patti Poppe, Chief Executive Officer of PG&E Corporation; Carolyn Burke, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of PG&E Corporation; and Brian Wong, Corporate Secretary of PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Brian will serve as Secretary at the meeting. In addition, all of the members of our boards of directors and the executive officer team of both PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company are here today. Thank you.
Representatives from Deloitte & Touche LLP, our independent auditors, are here today as well and will be able to respond to shareholders' questions at the end of the meeting. I also want to welcome representatives from our labor unions, which represent more than half of our employees, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1245, and the Engineers and Scientists of California, Local 20. We could not be successful without their partnership. Thank you. Next, Brian Wong will review the agenda for the joint meeting and the rules of conduct that will allow us to have an informative and engaging meeting.
Thank you, Kerry. I would like to outline the agenda for this meeting. First, we'll conduct the formal business of the meeting, starting with the introduction of directors standing for election and management proposals included in the joint proxy statement. This will be followed by a report regarding the preliminary voting results. We will adjourn the formal business meeting and close the polls. You'll hear further remarks from Ms. Cooper and from PG&E Corporation's CEO, Patti Poppe. We will turn to shareholders' questions at the end of the meeting. I'd like to highlight some of the rules of conduct that will guide the business of the meeting this morning. These rules are available in the virtual meeting web platform under Meeting Materials and were posted on PG&E Corporation's investor website prior to the meeting.
Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions has been appointed to tabulate the votes, and a representative of CT Hagberg will act as inspector of elections on the matters before us today and has given a note of office to act fairly and impartially. Their representative, Kathy Blackwell, has confirmed that quorums are present for the transaction of business. Only shareholders of record as of March 24, 2025, or their duly appointed proxy holders who have entered the meeting with their control number may vote and submit questions during this meeting. As Kerry previously noted, the polls are open for voting. Many shareholders have already voted by proxy. If you are eligible to vote but have not voted or would like to change your vote, you have an opportunity to do so now until the polls are closed at the end of the business portion of this meeting.
To ask a question, please use the Ask a Question function in the virtual meeting web platform. We appreciate diverse perspectives, and this is an opportunity for our shareholders to engage with the boards and our leadership team. To allow broad participation, we will limit each shareholder to one question. Some shareholders submitted questions through the web portal ahead of the meeting. We will be addressing their questions during the Q&A portion of the meeting as well. Questions from multiple shareholders on the same topic or that are otherwise related may be grouped, summarized, and answered together. We also ask that you focus your questions and comments on issues of general interest to shareholders and not on individual shareholder or customer issues or other topics stated in the rules of conduct. In general, we will not address questions that do not follow these guidelines.
Owing to time considerations, we may not be able to get to all questions. Video and voice recording of the meeting, as well as taking pictures during the meeting, is strictly prohibited. In the event of a technical malfunction or other event that disrupts the meeting, the chair of the joint meeting may postpone or adjourn it in a manner that allows all business to be conducted. With that, I'll turn it back to Kerry.
Thanks, Brian, for setting the stage for a transformative and transparent and informative meeting. In our 2025 joint proxy statement, we have presented our nominees for directors along with four additional management proposals for PG&E Corporation shareholders and three additional management proposals for Pacific Gas and Electric Company shareholders. All of the proposals are fully discussed in the proxy statement, including our voting recommendations. For the purposes of today's vote, each of the proposals is officially before the meeting. Proposal one is the election of directors listed in the proxy statement for shareholders' consideration to serve until the 2026 annual meeting of shareholders. Proposal two asks shareholders to provide an advisory vote to approve executive compensation for the companies. Proposal three asks shareholders to ratify the selection and appointment of Deloitte & Touche as the independent public accounting firm for the companies.
Proposal four asks PG&E Corporation shareholders to approve the 2025 PG&E Corporation employee stock purchase plan. With that, we will go over the preliminary voting report. This slide shows you the preliminary voting results based on proxies that have been counted as of yesterday, May 21, at approximately 2:00 P.M. Pacific Time. Final results will include the votes cast through close of polls at the joint meeting. The final results will be posted on our website and reported in an SEC filing. With that, we've concluded the items of business and will officially adjourn the formal business meeting. The inspector of elections has informed us that the polls are now closed. We will now move on to prepared remarks and Q&A. Some of today's remarks discuss our strategy, goals, and expectations for the future and are thus considered forward-looking statements.
These statements are based on information currently available to management. It is important to note that actual results can differ materially. Some of the important factors which could affect our actual financial results are described on slide eight of today's presentation. We encourage you to read our 2024 joint annual report to shareholders and our SEC filings for discussion of the factors that could cause actual results to differ. These documents are available on our website, www.pgeecorp.com. I'm pleased to have this opportunity to speak with you today. We are proud of the progress PG&E has made over the past year. First and foremost, we are working to reduce risk and improve safety as we continue to rebuild trust with our customers and the hometowns we serve. We also work with the state and other partners to help enable a cleaner, safer, and more reliable energy future.
We feel confident that the changes we've made are delivering benefits across all of our operations. From a governance perspective, we have a diverse and deeply experienced board. As directors, we take our oversight responsibilities seriously and receive regular updates from management on key operational, financial, and cybersecurity topics. Our governance practices are strong and consistent with stakeholder expectations and market standards. Much of our executive officer team, including the corporation's CEO, Patti, have been with her in their roles for over four years, and we are fortunate to have their commitment to the customers and the communities that PG&E serves. Overall, the boards and executive team at PG&E are building a company that our customers, investors, and stakeholders can trust, a company that works every day to deliver what California needs: safe, clean, climate-resistant energy service at a cost that everyone can afford.
With that, I'm pleased to introduce Patti Poppe, PG&E Corporation's CEO.
Thank you, Kerry. I am delighted to be with you all today. Thank you for joining and for your interest in PG&E. Today at PG&E, we continue to write our story of progress. We're delivering on our triple bottom line approach of serving people, the planet, and California's prosperity. I am pleased to be able to share some exciting examples. In service of people, we're proud of the foundation of safety our coworkers are building every day for our hometowns. In 2024, we achieved a second consecutive year of zero major wildfires caused by the company's equipment. Our layers of wildfire protection are working. We've buried more than 900 mi of power lines in the highest risk areas, reducing the risk of ignition in those areas by nearly 98%. We've installed over 630 AI-enabled wildfire cameras, giving us real-time awareness of conditions.
If conditions warrant, we also continue to use public safety power shutoffs, which reduce wildfire risk by 95%. Our foundation of safety is also evident in our gas operations. We continue top quartile industry performance on reducing pipeline dig-ins from third parties. Our crews respond to gas emergencies in under 20 minutes. Last year, we replaced more than 144 mi of distribution pipelines, reducing risk and lowering replacement costs. On top of this foundation of safety for the people that we serve, we're serving the planet with a clean, reliable energy system. In gas, we're finding ways to reduce methane emissions, including connecting four new renewable natural gas facilities to our system in 2024. For electric retail customers who purchase their power directly from us, 98% of that power was greenhouse gas-free last year. Our clean energy portfolio includes Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.
We are proud of the work that Diablo Canyon is doing, and they are one of the top-performing plants in the industry. In addition, we have over 12 gigawatts of battery storage in California today. Last summer, battery storage was essential in helping California endure record-breaking heat without any statewide calls for conservation. With more and more solar and wind resources on the grid, batteries are key to maintaining reliability even in peak times. On top of our progress in serving people and the planet, we're determined to serve California's prosperity with energy that's affordable for all. Our plan to achieve this is called our Simple Affordable Model. The model starts with our expected capital investments of about $63 billion from 2024 through 2028. To reduce the impact of that infrastructure investment on customer bills, we have a three-tiered approach.
Number one, we've set a goal to reduce non-fuel operating and maintenance costs by at least 2% each year. We've met or surpassed that goal three years running. We achieve this by reducing materials, labor, and other costs, as well as more efficiently planning and automating our work. We then reinvested those savings back into the business to continue improvements at no additional cost to customers. Number two, we see a breakthrough opportunity to advance affordability through new demand for electricity. In fact, we expect demand to double by 2040, driven by new data centers, electric vehicle charging, and electric homes and businesses. More load growth can reduce the price per kilowatt-hour for all by spreading out the fixed costs of grid operations. As a sign of growing demand, we added nearly 14,000 new customers to our grid in 2024, a 30% jump over the prior year.
Finally, number three, we see an opportunity to improve affordability by lowering our financing costs. We plan to achieve this as our credit ratings continue to improve and as we secure alternative financing, including federal loans. In the end, our Simple Affordable Model calls for limiting annual growth in customer costs to no more than 2%-4%. As proof that it's possible, since January 2024, typical residential combined bills have stabilized, and we expect them to go down in 2026. As we shared in our general rate case filing just last week, we expect residential bills to be flat in 2027 compared to 2025. We are proud of our progress in recent years. We also know we're not done yet. All of us at PG&E are steadfast in our commitment to serving people, the planet, and California's prosperity.
We'll continue to wake up every morning clear-eyed on our desire to provide energy that is safe, resilient, clean, and affordable for all. On behalf of my PG&E coworkers, we're glad to have you on our journey as we continue to write the next chapter of our story. With the remainder of our time, we'll turn to questions from our shareholders. Brian, what is our first question?
Thank you, Patti. Our first question is, what is PG&E doing to help customers navigate bill increases? Patti, could I ask you to answer that question?
Happy to take that. Thank you, Brian. At PG&E, we want what our customers want: safe, reliable, clean, and affordable energy for all. We are on a journey to transform PG&E and improve how we serve our customers at a lower cost. As mentioned in my remarks, we are stabilizing bills. As proof that it is possible, since January 2024, typical residential combined bills have stabilized, and we expect them to go down in 2026. Last week, we submitted our cost proposal for 2027-2030 to California regulators, also known as our general rate case. The proposal includes our smallest general rate case % increase request in a decade. This was made possible due to the $2.5 billion we have saved in operating and capital costs over the past three years.
Based on what we know today, if the proposal is approved in full, we expect residential bills in 2027 to be the same as 2025. For 2027-2030, we aim to deliver customer bill stability while improving safety and reliability. This proposal is another step in our journey of progress. We're not done, and we'll continue to do more to improve our service at a lower cost.
Thank you, Patti. The next question is, why is the PG&E board currently set at 14 members? Cheryl, may I ask you to address this question?
You bet, Brian. Thank you for the question. The CPUC decision affecting our board governance requires PG&E boards to have between 12 and 15 directors. We find this range results in a diversity of experience, skills, and attributes on our boards, which allow us to effectively oversee the breadth of PG&E's operations.
Thanks, Cheryl. We're going to pause and check for live questions. The next question is about why inclusion and belonging is a core value for PG&E. If I can, Patti, I'll ask you to take this question.
Thank you. I welcome this question. Thanks, Brian. You know, this topic is very important to us, and we are committed to making inclusion and belonging integral to all that we do. Why is that? That is because it makes us a stronger company. It allows for our coworkers to bring their full and best selves to work in service of our customers. It is especially important as we build a culture where everyone feels comfortable speaking up about concerns or ideas on how we can improve. I will also note that by focusing on having a workforce that reflects the hometowns we serve, we are also more aware and responsive to the diverse needs of our customers.
Thank you, Patti. Okay, checking again. Okay, we've now concluded the question-and-answer portion of our meeting. Patti, I'll hand it back to you for closing.
Thank you, Brian. Thank you, everyone, for your questions and your interest. You know, to close, I'll just reiterate. At PG&E, we continue to write our story of progress as we serve people, the planet, and California's prosperity. We're not done writing this story. We have more work to do. We want what our customers and investors want: safe, reliable, affordable, and clean energy and a hometown energy company that they can trust. We look forward to sharing our continued progress on this journey. With that, thank you for joining us today. Please be safe out there.