first net metering bill from sdg&e - data missing?

[makarowski]

I just received my first net-metering bill from SDG&E and was hoping to see how they calculated the credits/usage since I am on a TOU2-EV rate plan....

It was only about $5 (not bad), but when I looked at the details, some data seemed to be missing. My bill also straddled winter/summer rate plans which also confused things a bit more.

The missing data was around how they calculated my generation "credit". all I see is a single line item of -$93.24 .... in the breakdown of my usage/delivery, there is rates and costs for the off-peak and super-off-peak, but the on-peak numbers are all zero (except for the kwh). See below...

anyone else have a bill like mine? I guess I could call sdg&e or dig up rate plans and calculate it manually with excel... but I was hoping to see it spelled out for me on my bill...

Delivery.JPG Capture.JPG

Cheers
BMak

[J.P.M.]

I just received my first net-metering bill from SDG&E and was hoping to see how they calculated the credits/usage since I am on a TOU2-EV rate plan....

It was only about $5 (not bad), but when I looked at the details, some data seemed to be missing. My bill also straddled winter/summer rate plans which also confused things a bit more.

The missing data was around how they calculated my generation "credit". all I see is a single line item of -$93.24 .... in the breakdown of my usage/delivery, there is rates and costs for the off-peak and super-off-peak, but the on-peak numbers are all zero (except for the kwh). See below...

anyone else have a bill like mine? I guess I could call sdg&e or dig up rate plans and calculate it manually with excel... but I was hoping to see it spelled out for me on my bill...

[ATTACH]6826[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]6828[/ATTACH]

Cheers
BMak

I'm on tiered rate at this time.

The bills aren't much help in instruction mode.

Not trying to be a wise ass, but my experience is that the most thorough way to figure out how it works is probably as you suggest - the hard way. After you're done, the bills can provide a check on your method. I've found that's about their best use.

When you're done you'll be able to give guidance to most of the folks you call at SDG & E.

If I was looking for a small business opportunity, I'd think about a help service to decipher bills for POCO customers. Seems like a possible cottage industry.

Just sayin'.

[Riverside Solar]

my guess is

My guess is 21 cents per kWhr. Looks like your only net generation happened during peak periods noted by the negative sign. The other two periods look like you consumed power. Total kWhrs generated 444 divided into $93 about 21 cents. But ya that's pretty confusing looking.

[scrippsbruin96]

Fellow SDGE TOU customer here. I'm also having difficulties understanding my net metering bill as well.

I was able to back calculate the off peak and super off peak usage and rate, which ended up being $107 for month of May. But completely clueless on how the are calculating the peak hour production of -315 kWh at summer rate and -30 kWh at winter rate.

Based on the summer peak rate of $.48 per kWh, I ended up with $151 for the 315 kWh production. While the 30 kWh winter peak production calculated at $.22 was at $6. Combining the two I got $157.

So based on my calculations (which may be wrong), I'm looking at $50 credit for May, but instead I'm looking at $5 cost instead. What am I missing here?

[thejq]

@BMak you're looking at the wrong page. The "Applied Generation Credit" is what is being applied for the current bill which is equal or smaller than your total consumption in $ terms. If you produced more (as in your case), there will be a "Remaining Credit" shown in the Net Metering Summary page (2nd to last). If you add that to the "Credit", you should get the correct total. With EV-TOU2, you're paid .21185/W in winter and .47688/W in summer.

[makarowski]

Hi thejq,

Yea I saw that credit at the end of the bill later on.... still, I think SDG&E should have documented the breakdown and showed what peak rate they used like they did for the off-peak and super off peak portions. No reason why they couldn't have spelled it out, especially as the bill straddled two rate periods.


Cheers
BMak

[nightlfy]

I am also on the TOU2 rate plan and got the system approved after the first week in May. It contains two days of winter rates and 28 days of summer. I lease an electric car so my super-off peak is my highest consumption period (we also use timers on dishwasher, washing machine to defer their operation)

My resulting bill was $5.33. I generated 147kw and consumed 248kw. My generation credit was ~$72 which resulted in roughly $0.48/kw. I too would love to know how much was generated at what rate...like we get for consumption - but that's a grey area the SDGE doesn't want to shine any light on.

[sensij]

This is one of the things I love about having generation and consumption in PVOutput. I've loaded SDG&E's EV-TOU-2 plan into its tariff table, and it shows each day how much net consumption I have at what level, and how much that should cost (or credit).

I haven't gotten my first TOU bill yet so I can't say how accurate it is yet, but the data supplied to PVO is very accurate and it seems like it ought to come out close.

Daily view screen shot is attached, but it can be summarized monthly, and there are also charts that show the results graphically.

PVO-TOU.JPG

Edit: The peak, off-peak, and shoulder columns show the net import during those periods each day. You can see my off-peak (sdge super off-peak) consumption is highest (EV charging), and there is usually some shoulder (sdge off-peak) consumption, mostly after 6 pm in the evening when solar is no longer generating. Very rare to have peak net consumption, except on very cloudy days or weekends when we are home.

Double edit: It is also possible to change the TOU tariff that is loaded and retroactively apply it to the data. This will make evaluating a future change in rate plans against past net consumption much easier than building and maintaining a spreadsheet.

[thejq]

I am also on the TOU2 rate plan and got the system approved after the first week in May. It contains two days of winter rates and 28 days of summer. I lease an electric car so my super-off peak is my highest consumption period (we also use timers on dishwasher, washing machine to defer their operation)

My resulting bill was $5.33. I generated 147kw and consumed 248kw. My generation credit was ~$72 which resulted in roughly $0.48/kw. I too would love to know how much was generated at what rate...like we get for consumption - but that's a grey area the SDGE doesn't want to shine any light on.

Another annoying thing with SDGE's netmetering bill is that if you carry a balance in previous months, and your current month has a generation credit, the credit is not used to cancel the balance retroactively. So coming off the winter and into the summer, you can have a huge balance and huge credit both showing in your bill. I was told at the true-up time, the computer will reconcile everything -- fingers crossed.

[scrippsbruin96]

Ok, data is definitely missing, even the SDGE website admits to this:

"Your solar account currently has $60.26 of Remaining Credits. This value is the amount of credits from the billing periods when you were a net over-generator. This amount is not reflected in your Bill-to-Date or Bill Forecast amounts, but will be applied to your Net Metering balance to offset outstanding net metering charges."

Why this credit is not reflected on the bill generated every month is beyond me?!

[sensij]

Ok, data is definitely missing, even the SDGE website admits to this:

"Your solar account currently has $60.26 of Remaining Credits. This value is the amount of credits from the billing periods when you were a net over-generator. This amount is not reflected in your Bill-to-Date or Bill Forecast amounts, but will be applied to your Net Metering balance to offset outstanding net metering charges."

Why this credit is not reflected on the bill generated every month is beyond me?!

It is on the bill, not the pages you attached in your post. See thejq's post above.

[sensij]

This is one of the things I love about having generation and consumption in PVOutput. I've loaded SDG&E's EV-TOU-2 plan into its tariff table, and it shows each day how much net consumption I have at what level, and how much that should cost (or credit).

I haven't gotten my first TOU bill yet so I can't say how accurate it is yet, but the data supplied to PVO is very accurate and it seems like it ought to come out close.

Daily view screen shot is attached, but it can be summarized monthly, and there are also charts that show the results graphically.

[ATTACH]6975[/ATTACH]

Edit: The peak, off-peak, and shoulder columns show the net import during those periods each day. You can see my off-peak (sdge super off-peak) consumption is highest (EV charging), and there is usually some shoulder (sdge off-peak) consumption, mostly after 6 pm in the evening when solar is no longer generating. Very rare to have peak net consumption, except on very cloudy days or weekends when we are home.

Double edit: It is also possible to change the TOU tariff that is loaded and retroactively apply it to the data. This will make evaluating a future change in rate plans against past net consumption much easier than building and maintaining a spreadsheet.

For those interested, a screenshot of my PVOuput tariff setup is attached. It is based on the current EV-TOU-2 rate plan. A couple caveats...

1) PVOutput doesn't store seasonal tariffs, so on Nov 1, I'll need to manually load the the correct rates for winter. Fortunately, none of the hours change on this plan.

2) This doesn't account for minimum bill charges, taxes, etc... only shows how the TOU generation and consumption dollars work out each day.

PVOutput Tariff EV-TOU-2.JPG

Also, I think I've posted it before, but to compare TOU plans by a spreadsheet, here is a dropbox link to what I made.

[J.P.M.]

For those interested, a screenshot of my PVOuput tariff setup is attached. It is based on the current EV-TOU-2 rate plan. A couple caveats...

1) PVOutput doesn't store seasonal tariffs, so on Nov 1, I'll need to manually load the the correct rates for winter. Fortunately, none of the hours change on this plan.

2) This doesn't account for minimum bill charges, taxes, etc... only shows how the TOU generation and consumption dollars work out each day.

[ATTACH]6988[/ATTACH]

Also, I think I've posted it before, but to compare TOU plans by a spreadsheet, here is a dropbox link to what I made.

On 1) above: POCO tariffs usually change more often than every 6 months as winter to summer rates do. Is it an ignorant question to ask how often PVOutput updates tariffs ?

[scrippsbruin96]

It is on the bill, not the pages you attached in your post. See thejq's post above.

Thanks, found it!

[sensij]

On 1) above: POCO tariffs usually change more often than every 6 months as winter to summer rates do. Is it an ignorant question to ask how often PVOutput updates tariffs ?

PVO updates tariffs as often as the user enters them. It is manual. It doesn't support any type of tiering / baseline credit, just straight hourly bins and price associated for each. It is flexible enough to handle each day of the week and holidays separately, if needed, and the appropriate holidays are manually entered (by calendar data, not name).

Once the credit/cost on a particular date has been calculated, is stays stored that way even if the user subsequently changes the tariff. Historical data can be marked for recalculation under the new tariff if the user chooses.

It works well for the current incarnations of DR-SES and EV-TOU-2, but with the future of TOU looking likely to have a baseline allocation at some point, the utility of PVO for this will diminish unless their developers opt to support more complicated rate plans.