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PG&E adding $10 a month to solar bill

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I'm not 100% sure this is correct. I'm already paying $11 a month for some connection fees, okay $10.95 but $11 essentially.

Now they are going to add another $10 if you have a reasonable income. A total of $21 for basically being connected - this seems excessive. May be time to revisit going off grid by doubling solar panels?

PUC approves big changes in state's electricity rate system - San Jose Mercury News
 
$21/month for a grid connection with net metering sounds reasonable to me. The cost to go off-grid will be much higher. Off grid is not as efficient use of resources, since you will need extra PV and battery capacity to meet your peak needs. This can be reduced by disabling some large loads during peak usage, as Solar City plans to do when they offer off grid solutions for Hawaii residents. Even then you will still need more capacity than utilities need to install per customer.

Homepower.com is a good source for information on off grid power systems. They recommend enough battery to supply 2-3 days and an ICE generator as well.

GSP
 
Interesting. I'm still not 100% clear on the $10 fee.

I'm looking at my old bills and the number has changed around. I have old paper bills. This number has been: $12.39, $12.81, and recently has dropped to $4.73. So if they up it a bit it is okay. But I'm not sure what they are "upping".

The $4.73 is broken down to

Distribution $3.60
Public Purpose Programs $0.20
Generation $0.64
Utility Users Tax $0.29

There is also a new note in the online version that says

"Your electric minimum charges for this period are $4.44 which may include applicable discounts and may be deducted from your energy charges at True-Up if your annual energy charges exceed the minimum charges."


I know its not worth it to go off-grid, but not fond of PG&E

It's not a $10 fee, it's a $10 minimum bill. As such, since you're already paying $11/mo, you should see no change.
 
I don't like PG&E either. But you own a roadster and a model S. Paying a little bit for grid maintenance to help not push costs onto poorer people who can't afford solar is fair.

Eventually, managing the grid and selling electricity is going to need to be done by separate companies.

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$21/month for a grid connection with net metering sounds reasonable to me. The cost to go off-grid will be much higher. Off grid is not as efficient use of resources, since you will need extra PV and battery capacity to meet your peak needs. This can be reduced by disabling some large loads during peak usage, as Solar City plans to do when they offer off grid solutions for Hawaii residents. Even then you will still need more capacity than utilities need to install per customer.

Homepower.com is a good source for information on off grid power systems. They recommend enough battery to supply 2-3 days and an ICE generator as well.

GSP

Almost everyone who has owned an off grid house would gladly pay for a grid connection to avoid needing a generator. Managing home power without grid backup is fun until the first big problem.
 
Where do you see them adding $10 for a reasonable income? In fact the report says those who make more than $137,000 will see a reduction of $5.78 a month

People with a household income of less than $27,400 should see monthly bills rise $5.84; those with household incomes ranging from $27,400 to $54,800 will see an increase of $4.59; those with incomes of $54,800 to $82,200 will see a $2.40 increase; households in the range of $82,200 to $137,000 will see a 70-cent increase; and people with household incomes over $137,000 will see a reduction of $5.78 a month, according to estimates in a blog post by Borenstein.
 
I read their press release:

http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M153/K072/153072586.PDF

The way that I read it is that the minimum bill for us NEMS customers will increase from the aforementioned $4.75 +/- per month to this $10 minimum. However, if our total purchases from the grid during our one-year billing cycle are greater than the $120/year cumulative charge, we get credit for this when "true-up" time comes. I believe that this is because we purchase bundled service, and the per kWh charge of 16.35 cents (baseline) includes the amounts assessed for the monthly hit. Otherwise we would be paying twice for the same things.

However, what is unknown now is how the NEMS program will flop out when the current policies expire in 2017. I am not confident that those of us with PV systems will be able to continue with the same fundamental billing practices that we now receive. We could (just speculation) be in for additional assessments for grid maintenance or a flat rate credit for electricity delivered but retail rates for electricity received.
 
$21/month for a grid connection with net metering sounds reasonable to me. The cost to go off-grid will be much higher. Off grid is not as efficient use of resources, since you will need extra PV and battery capacity to meet your peak needs. This can be reduced by disabling some large loads during peak usage, as Solar City plans to do when they offer off grid solutions for Hawaii residents. Even then you will still need more capacity than utilities need to install per customer.

For what it's worth, our co-op has done the calculations and has figured our fixed cost for grid interconnection w/ net metering at roughly $35-40 per month, and that's what we pay for our meter charge. Admittedly our co-op is smaller and will not benefit from the scale of PG&E, but then again we don't have a profit motive, either. While every investor-owned utility is looking to get rid of net metering in favor of something else, our co-op's leadership is talking about paying cash for owner excess generation (up to 40 kW systems) rather than just giving credits for up to 90 days.
 
I think we can all agree on the fact that whenever there is a wholesale change in common situations with a "one size fits all" approach, that there will be winners and losers. There are so many variations on usage today, from 100% grid reliance to 100% self-generated with a surplus at the end of each annual "true-up" period. In short the utilities are faced with trying to aim at a moving target, particularly as new or expanding residential and commercial PV or wind turbines come on line.

The utilities will more than likely err on the investor side leading to unintended consequences (and higher-than-expected rates and charges) benefiting few customers.

And then, the public will figure out how to reduce their utility bills by adding stationary storage, more PV panels, etc., and then the utilities will change the billing structure to recover those costs, and then the public . . .

It will become a never ending game of thrust and parry until the business models for utilities change.
 
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Don't undersell the desire of the CPUC to achieve good outcomes for consumers. Mike Florio is particularly strong on utility reform, and brings a strong intellect (graduate degrees from NYU and Princeton) and a New York-style cut-to-the-chase style. Certainly not a stool pigeon for the utilities.
What do you know about Michael Picker, he seems to be in bed with the California power companies like his predecessor.
 
Changes to your electricity bill
Rates will be based on two, instead of four, tiers of electricity usage.

Thank goodness.

All households will have to pay a minimum $5 per month, even if tapping an alternate source like solar.

I don't see a problem here.

A $5 minimum bill would be for low-income residents in the CARE Program, and a $10 minimum would apply to middle- and upper-income customers not in the CARE Program.

It will be interesting to see how this affects net metering customers. Do they calculate this as part of the December reconciliation? As others have mentioned, there is already a $4.73 charge every month just for the connection.

Low income homeowners should be cheering over the cap&trade credit they suddenly got last month anyway. (I disagree strongly with the whole c&t thing, but my voice doesn't count in California.)

Low-usage households will likely pay a higher rate than in the current plan, while high-usage households will pay a lower rate.

The current Tier 3 and 4 rates are outrageous. They have forced many, including myself, to install solar systems.

The biggest residential users will see a new "super-user surcharge," designed to encourage conservation. That surcharge will apply to customers who use twice the average amount of electricity for residential users.

So there are really three tiers?

Pacific Gas & Electric and other utilities will have 60 days to propose a first round of changes to electricity bills. The changes in rates and monthly charges must be in effect by some time in November. Most changes will roll out at the end of this year, but off-peak pricing will start in 2019.


Does this mean every home gets a TOU meter? (My house has had one for decades, but I know I am the only one in my neighborhood that does. I was the last person in my neighborhood to get a Smart Meter because of it.)
 
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