“That's five Tesla power walls in your car that you were going to buy anyways. I call it Anyways Economics. You're going to buy the car to get around. Oh, by the way, it saves you on your fuel cost because electricity is cheaper than gasoline.”
Climate One · Climate & Energy · October 2026
PG&E's CEO, asked whether the grid can handle data centers, EVs and electric appliances, says growing demand is the best thing that could happen to it. Her case for EVs with bidirectional charging is that they double as home and grid batteries.
Transcript
This is Climate One. I'm Kousha Navidar. Let's get back to Greg Dalton conversation with Patti Poppe, CEO of Pacific Gas and Electric. It was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.
…the tax credits. But I'm seeing advertisements for Toyota, which is a real laggard in the EV space. When Toyota's advertising EVs, you know, something strange is going on. That's going to add to demand. Is the grid ready to handle data centers and electric stoves, electric cars, electric heaters?
It's the best thing that could happen to the grid. Growing demand will be what funds rebuilding of our aging infrastructure. And EVs are the best kind of load because they can act as a battery on the grid. Many of the automakers now have bi-directional charging vehicles. It's in its very earliest stages, but your vehicle is the equivalent of, depending on the size of the vehicle, if you have a GMC pickup truck, we're talking about 10 Tesla power walls. If you have a Chevy Bolt, maybe it's five. But that's five Tesla power walls in your car that you were going to buy anyways. I call it Anyways Economics. You're going to buy the car to get around. Oh, by the way, it saves you on your fuel cost because electricity is cheaper than gasoline. And you have a resilience solution in the occasion that you would need a backup at your home for any number of reasons.
But I can't drive the car away and run the refrigerator at the same time.
True, true, but it can absolutely serve as an important resilience. And you can run down to the store and come back and your ice cream will still be okay.
So you're bullish on EVs. The grid can handle it. And people should think about bi-directional, using their car as a battery, as an energy source, as well as a thing to get around. So let's talk about fire safety. California lawmakers rejected a bill that would have shielded PGD and others from…
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