PG&E Corporation is Highest Ranking Energy Company in Survey of 100 Best Corporate Citizens

SAN FRANCISCO, March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In its latest annual list of the country's 100 Best Corporate Citizens, Corporate Responsibility Officer Magazine (CRO) ranked PG&E Corporation tenth among all companies. The company was the only energy company to score among the top 10 for its overall performance.

CRO's 100 Best Corporate Citizens list is based on an annual survey that evaluates 1000 large companies and ranks the leaders in eight categories: Climate Change, Employee Relations, Environment, Financial, Governance, Human Rights, Lobbying and Philanthropy. PG&E ranked first out of 1,000 companies in the Governance category related to the company's corporate governance guidelines for a diverse, qualified and independent board of directors, as well as its alignment of CEO compensation with performance for shareholders. A full overview of PG&E's corporate responsibility activities can be found at http://www.pgecorp.com/corp_responsibility/reports/2006/.

"Excellence in corporate responsibility is absolutely indispensable to our long-term vision of becoming the nation's leading utility company in the eyes of customers, employees and investors," said Peter Darbee, Chairman, CEO and President of PG&E Corporation. "Our 20,000 employees take pride in holding themselves to high standards in these areas. This recognition is a credit to their commitment to living our values in their daily work with our customers and communities."

PG&E also scored high on its environmental leadership and climate change efforts. Through the development and implementation of its Environmental Policy Framework, PG&E has pursued initiatives, implemented programs, and advocated for policies that raised the bar on environmental stewardship not only for the utility industry, but for all U.S. industries. PG&E is a recognized leader in renewable energy, providing its customers with among the cleanest energy in the nation. On average, more than 50 percent of the energy delivered to electric customers is carbon free. Through its energy efficiency programs, PG&E has worked with its customers to prevent more than 135 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions from being released into the atmosphere.

The company has also set the bar in wildlife and land conservation by preserving more than 140,000 acres of forest and watershed lands for future generations. In addition, PG&E has helped its customers convert their fleets to low-emission vehicles -- while converting its own vehicle fleet -- and facilitated the deployment and installation of the U.S.'s largest concentration of customer-owned, solar generation facilities.

For its efforts, the company has received more than 150 environmental awards, including California's Planning and Conservation League's Environmental Business of the Year, the Natural Resources Defense Council's award for environmental leadership, and the Pacific Forest Trust Award in Climate Protection and Forest Management Leadership.

PG&E is also a recognized leader in equal employment opportunity/affirmative action. The company is committed to hiring a diverse workforce that reflects the communities it serves and applies this focus on diversity through all aspects of the business, from outside suppliers to the makeup of the workforce. In addition, the company supports employee associations representing different ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, and interests. PG&E has received several awards for creating and maintaining a diverse workforce, including Black Enterprise Magazine's 30 Best Companies for Diversity, Hispanic Business Magazine's Top 40 Companies for Hispanics and FORTUNE Magazine's Top Employers for Minorities.

The company's support for local communities is reflected in its charitable giving and employee match programs. In 2007, PG&E donated $18.3 million to charitable nonprofit organizations, a 25 percent increase from 2006. Since 2004, PG&E has contributed $6 million to the company's Solar Schools program to provide schools in primarily underserved communities with a free one kilowatt solar energy system, grade-specific solar energy curriculum materials and "Bright Idea" grants up to $5,000 for schools that submit ideas for innovative solar science projects.

This is the ninth year of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens list. This year, CRO ranked large companies listed on the Russell 1000 index and only used data that could be found on publicly available sources in order to ensure that transparency played a key role in the rankings. The complete list of CRO's 100 Best Corporate Citizens can be found at http://www.thecro.com/?q=be_100best.

For more information about PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company, please visit our web sites at http://www.pgecorp.com/ and http://www.pge.com/