PG&E Faces Critics Head-on in Bold New Campaign to Rebuild Customer Trust

How do you help rebuild customer trust in a 120-year-old utility company that is seeing some of the lowest customer satisfaction levels in its history? Radical candor.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), which provides energy to 16 million customers in North and Central California, is recognising and addressing its customers’ concerns by airing their grievances from the Internet. Its new video series, developed in partnership with independent ad agency, Duncan Channon, features Vacaville frontline workers E-Man and Jeramy reading real customer posts and providing fun, unscripted and easy-to-understand answers.

The campaign comes as PG&E works to rebuild trust with customers by enhancing safety, improving reliability, and stabilising energy rates. The company turnaround is being led by CEO Patti Poppe whose philosophy of change centres around the idea of 'leading with love.' And because love starts with listening, the company has made the bold choice to give their customers’ concerns airtime.

The new Open Lines series launches this week and targets Californians 45 and under, addressing PG&E’s younger customers where they spend their time, on platforms like YouTube and Instagram. Ads will also run on connected TV.

“PG&E is a brand that’s been under scrutiny for years, but it’s also one with important stories to tell,” said MJ Deery, creative director at Duncan Channon. “When audiences are sceptical, hurt and angry, they need to be heard before they’ll believe you’ve changed. With our social series, we take the same radical candour as the rest of the Open Lines campaign but the tone invites customers to hear PG&E in a way they haven’t before,” she continued.

The initial spots of the Open Lines campaign that launched earlier this year show PG&E executives in face-to-face conversations with actual customers. It was a direct channel for customers to air their concerns, and an opportunity for the energy company to show accountability.

With frustrations ranging from wildfire risks to energy costs, the campaign’s central message comes through: PG&E is here to listen to what customers have to say and to share what they’re doing about it. This listening tour—and its focus on transparency—is a key step in rebuilding the trust that has eroded over the years.

“PG&E is a turnaround story in the making” said David McCulloch, chief communications and marketing officer at PG&E. “However, we know many customers are sceptical about whether we have really changed. We are working to regain their trust, and Open Lines is our way of showing we are listening, that we care about what’s important to our customers and that we are making progress on those issues every day.”

Open Lines is a fully integrated, multilingual campaign running across digital, TV, radio, and print media as PG&E seeks to build lasting relationships through customer engagement.

The campaign is funded by PG&E shareholders and does not impact customer bills.