Will I lose Net Metering rights if I switch rate plans?

[iamadoorknob]

Background: I live in California and I'm with PG&E. Right now I'm on the basic rate plan, but if I want to switch rate plans to Time of Use years in the future (when they switch to Net Metering 2.0), will I lose my Net Metering 1.0 rights?

[inetdog]

Background: I live in California and I'm with PG&E. Right now I'm on the basic rate plan, but if I want to switch rate plans to Time of Use years in the future (when they switch to Net Metering 2.0), will I lose my Net Metering 1.0 rights?

Possibly. The effect is great enough that you should get a more authoritative opinion than mine! Have you asked PG&E in writing?

[sensij]

Background: I live in California and I'm with PG&E. Right now I'm on the basic rate plan, but if I want to switch rate plans to Time of Use years in the future (when they switch to Net Metering 2.0), will I lose my Net Metering 1.0 rights?

No, switching rate plans will not compromise your net metering agreement. The net metering interconnect contract you have now does not specify a rate plan, it just says that you will receive credit based on your "OAR" - Otherwise Applicable Rate.

[thejq]

I don't think you will lose it (within the grandfather period) unless you change your system (eg. increase size by > 10% etc) and have to reapply for new net metering. They might put limitations to discourage switching however.

[sdold]

I didn't lose it when I switched back in October. It made a big difference (in a positive way), even with the wife and kids at home during the day. I had to school the wife on times of day to avoid doing laundry (especially the drier) but it was worth it.

[SunEagle]

I didn't lose it when I switched back in October. It made a big difference (in a positive way), even with the wife and kids at home during the day. I had to school the wife on times of day to avoid doing laundry (especially the drier) but it was worth it.

So based on "schooling the wife" I presume you are now doing the laundry.

[albert436]

^lol, good one !

[sdold]

I don't think I used the term "schooled." But now that I think about it, I am doing a lot more of my own laundry now. Huh.

I was surprised at how much my wife is on-board with saving energy now that the panels are up, and especially now that we've moved to TOU. I was afraid she's start leaving the air on longer, but she's gone the other way.

I use a paid iphone app called PG&E Toolkit that gives me reports and graphs and all sorts of data. About three months into having the solar panels, it was showing me what I would be paying on the other rate plans, and the E6 looked like the best one, so I switched from E1 to E6 and it really paid off, mostly due to the fall and spring being high generation days without the AC running. The app requires that you give it your PG&E login info, which might bother some, but I've used it for a year and like it a lot.