PSA for Nor-Cal residents... PG&E autopay totally whiffed last month

[holeydonut]

TBH, I have no clue where to post this ... but since there are a ton of folks in Northern California who read this sub...

I just got a notification that I owe PG&E $91.17 and our account is past-due. But the whacky thing is I'm on auto-pay and the bank account they draft from is well funded. No, I don't bank with Silicon Valley Bank, or First Republic Bank, or Signature Bank. This has nothing to do with NEM true-up or anything... it's just their auto-pay working incorrectly.

If I log into my PG&E account, I see the following. My recent bill that was due on March 9 was $532.99*. Their auto-pay took $441.82 on that date. Anyway, go check your auto-pays before PG&E puts you into their collections-spam.

* Note: $445 of the bill was due to natural gas charges. Sad.

 

[getakey]

something like this happened to me before. I think it was the month they give you a climate credit. The credit was reflected in the way they processed my payment, but did not get subtracted from the bill. It corrected itself the next month

 

[holeydonut]

something like this happened to me before. I think it was the month they give you a climate credit. The credit was reflected in the way they processed my payment, but did not get subtracted from the bill. It corrected itself the next month

Lol ok you're right. $91.17 is the maximum climate credit. Historically, distribution of the climate was supposed to be in April. But due to the mega-sad natural gas rate issue we had, now the credit will go out "whenever". And I guess "whenever" could have started in early March.

California Climate Credit Totaling Up to $91.17 to Help Customers with High Winter Bills

Residential customers will automatically receive the California Climate Credit earlier than usual this year. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved distributing the credit as soon as possible, instead of the annual April timeframe. The Climate Credit is part of California's...

investor.pgecorp.com

Still kind of funky why they'd apply the credit to my auto-pay, but not actually reflect the credit in the amount owed. Which triggers their automated systems to spam you that you're not paying on time or have some balance owed to PG&E. Sigh.

Anyway I'm just going to pay forward the $91.17. Blah.

 

[wwu123]

something like this happened to me before. I think it was the month they give you a climate credit. The credit was reflected in the way they processed my payment, but did not get subtracted from the bill. It corrected itself the next month

Same observation here, either the 2x/year climate credit, or possibly a small credit from them reconciling they overcollected on one of those misc fees/taxes. It's basically their internal system has already applied the credit to your balance, but their paper bill won't reconcile it the due date of the bill, so only your next bill will show it.

That said, years ago I'd set a limit on the monthly autopay, just so in case of a computer error they weren't authorized to debit my entire checking account balance. With solar and my electricity bills being net-zero back in the days before EV's and MDC's, I set the limit to what I considered would be an "absurdly high" amount. Fast forward a few years, the last two monthly bills, with this season's gas rates, shot right past that limit, so I just had to crank up the monthly autopay limit as well...

 

[holeydonut]

Same observation here, either the 2x/year climate credit, or possibly a small credit from them reconciling they overcollected on one of those misc fees/taxes. It's basically their internal system has already applied the credit to your balance, but their paper bill won't reconcile it the due date of the bill, so only your next bill will show it.

That said, years ago I'd set a limit on the monthly autopay, just so in case of a computer error they weren't authorized to debit my entire checking account balance. With solar and my electricity bills being net-zero back in the days before EV's and MDC's, I set the limit to what I considered would be an "absurdly high" amount. Fast forward a few years, the last two monthly bills, with this season's gas rates, shot right past that limit, so I just had to crank up the monthly autopay limit as well...

TIL there's an option for an autopay limit. And TIL PG&E thinks the maximum autopay limit is $99,999.99.

My neighbor's bill last month was over $1,000. When do you think we'll hit $99,999.99 residential bills? 2032?

@h2ofun needs to do a TED talk about how he had the foresight to outsmart the system and go all-electric with mammoth amounts of solar under NEM 2.0... before the IOUs and "Cal Advocates" initiated their crap-on-NEM-2 campaign.

 

[holeydonut]

Ggguuuhhhh even paying the $91.17 forward, my total gas bill for the next auto-payment has a remaining balance of $559.95. Between 7% mortgage rates and utility bills, how do ya'll afford your homes?

 

[Redhill_qik]

Ggguuuhhhh even paying the $91.17 forward, my total gas bill for the next auto-payment has a remaining balance of $559.95. Between 7% mortgage rates and utility bills, how do ya'll afford your homes?

Well, I don't have a wife that wants it to be 75 in the winter and 65 in the summer. Being about to refi in 2020 at the low mark and Prop 13 limiting tax rate increases also helps.

 

[BGbreeder]

@holeydonut Have you looked into an energy audit and extra insulation for the house? At those levels of gas bills, there ought to be an ROI.

 

[holeydonut]

@holeydonut Have you looked into an energy audit and extra insulation for the house? At those levels of gas bills, there ought to be an ROI.

Yeah, I was hoping to incorporate some of these energy improvements from the IRA. But the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credits described aren't really easy to use and I'm kind of putting this on the back burner while I get all new windows installed.

Inflation Reduction Act Tax Incentives for Energy (not related to PV+ESS and EVs)

I've been researching some of the energy-related tax incentives in the latest Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). While I am clearly an idiot (have you read my posts on TMC? they're usually just me ranting about PG&E sucking or talking about blade disconnects), I figure it could be useful to share...

teslamotorsclub.com

As @Redhill_qik pointed out, the main problem is I'm outnumbered in my household and people like to set the winter thermostat to 76F. (it used to be 75F, but they said 75F is too cold).

 

[h2ofun]

Well, I don't have a wife that wants it to be 75 in the winter and 65 in the summer. Being about to refi in 2020 at the low mark and Prop 13 limiting tax rate increases also helps.

I can does those temps all year long for free.

 

[h2ofun]

Yeah, I was hoping to incorporate some of these energy improvements from the IRA. But the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credits described aren't really easy to use and I'm kind of putting this on the back burner while I get all new windows installed.

Inflation Reduction Act Tax Incentives for Energy (not related to PV+ESS and EVs)

I've been researching some of the energy-related tax incentives in the latest Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). While I am clearly an idiot (have you read my posts on TMC? they're usually just me ranting about PG&E sucking or talking about blade disconnects), I figure it could be useful to share...

teslamotorsclub.com

As @Redhill_qik pointed out, the main problem is I'm outnumbered in my household and people like to set the winter thermostat to 76F. (it used to be 75F, but they said 75F is too cold).

Piece of cake

 

[Redhill_qik]

Ggguuuhhhh even paying the $91.17 forward, my total gas bill for the next auto-payment has a remaining balance of $559.95. Between 7% mortgage rates and utility bills, how do ya'll afford your homes?

You don't by any chance have a 3rd party gas supplier instead of PG&E?

I was trying to help people understand their high gas and electric bills on a local Nextdoor thread. Some people with low'ish therms had very high totals. Turns out that 3rd party gas suppliers are a thing and they are predatory with rates above $5/therm when PG&E maxed at $1.44/therm. On top of at least one supplier charged as $5/month customer fee. Lots of people switching back to PG&E.

 

[holeydonut]

You don't by any chance have a 3rd party gas supplier instead of PG&E?

I was trying to help people understand their high gas and electric bills on a local Nextdoor thread. Some people with low'ish therms had very high totals. Turns out that 3rd party gas suppliers are a thing and they are predatory with rates above $5/therm when PG&E maxed at $1.44/therm. On top of at least one supplier charged as $5/month customer fee. Lots of people switching back to PG&E.

NG is at PG&E rates. But my “tier 2” rate procurement + distribution maxed out at $3.14 per therm.

A lot of therms … 2 NG furnaces.

Edit, I got all brand new 0.20 u factor windows. Didn’t help much at all hahah. Blah.

 

[BGbreeder]

NG is at PG&E rates. But my “tier 2” rate procurement + distribution maxed out at $3.14 per therm.

A lot of therms … 2 NG furnaces.

Edit, I got all brand new 0.20 u factor windows. Didn’t help much at all hahah. Blah.

Congratulations on the windows. I'd love to upgrade mine to something more insulating as well. In my experience, windows have never been great insulators in the US. You also might want to look into insulated curtains; they typically have an aluminized Mylar layer and some amount of fiber insulation. The best ones run in tracks along the window edges. I lived in one place where they made an incredible difference to the comfort level in the rooms, more so than the R60 insulation blown into the floor (though that killed off the icy floor).

It would seem to me between the AC and heating costs, a number of these insulation projects would pencil out.

All the best,

BG

 

[getakey]

Interesting. In my last house, I replaced old windows with double pane and it made a huge difference in heating and sound. We were on Bay Area Peninsula with no AC so it made biggest difference for heating

 

[holeydonut]

Congratulations on the windows. I'd love to upgrade mine to something more insulating as well. In my experience, windows have never been great insulators in the US. You also might want to look into insulated curtains; they typically have an aluminized Mylar layer and some amount of fiber insulation. The best ones run in tracks along the window edges. I lived in one place where they made an incredible difference to the comfort level in the rooms, more so than the R60 insulation blown into the floor (though that killed off the icy floor).

It would seem to me between the AC and heating costs, a number of these insulation projects would pencil out.

All the best,

BG

I’ve learned that the only acceptable window coverings are wood plantation shutters, internally geared, no tilt rod (front or hidden), 3.5” louvers, Z frame with divider rail uniform. No negotiations.

Btw did you know you can get a bypass door plantation shutter for a double patio glass door?

 

[BGbreeder]

I’ve learned that the only acceptable window coverings are wood plantation shutters, internally geared, no tilt rod (front or hidden), 3.5” louvers, Z frame with divider rail uniform. No negotiations.

Btw did you know you can get a bypass door plantation shutter for a double patio glass door?

Okey-dokey then. We must all listen to SWMBO...

All the best,

BG