SDGE Minimum charge adjustments? EV TOU 2

[bando]

Does anyone know how SDGE's minimum charge adjustment has been calculated the last few months? We just had our second anniversary with solar and the bill was a whopping $0.18 thanks to our system and EV TOU 2 .

But I have noticed that the minimum charge adjustment stopped being $4.93 per month several months ago (which is exactly $0.17/day), and the past few billings have shown:

Nov billing (29 days, annual true up bill): $25.35

Oct billing (32 days): $10.53

Sept billing (30 days): $8.76


I have read about them wanting to increase the min charge on solar customers, but not to the level of $25/month. I'm not complaining about paying the $0.18 bill after a full year's worth of charging an EV (15,000 driving miles) and running AC liberally, but I am wondering where they are coming up with these numbers ...

Has anyone seen a similar pattern recently?

[sensij]

You can see on the current EV-TOU-2 tariff that the minimum charge has been increased to $0.329 / day. That change was a consequence of CPUC decision D1507001, related to the "rate reform" you may have heard about, and took effect on Sept 1.

With respect to your true-up bill, there are extra charges in there to account for months in which you were a net consumer, but paid your bill entirely with NEM credits. Unfortuntely, the minimum bill needs to be paid with hard cash, not credits, so even if the minimum doesn't show up on your monthly statement, it is assessed at the end of the year if your usage in other months isn't high enough to cover it.

Although you only "paid" $0.18, don't forget that you also received the CA Climate Credit. This year, that was worth $36.24 in April and $23.99 in October, for a total of $60.23. That would have been cash in your pocket if not for the minimum bills. Now that the minimum bill has increased to $120 annually, you should expect to pay about $60 out of pocket at true-up if you are a net generator (or close to it), assuming the credit remains about the same next year.

[bando]

You can see on the current EV-TOU-2 tariff that the minimum charge has been increased to $0.329 / day. That change was a consequence of CPUC decision D1507001, related to the "rate reform" you may have heard about, and took effect on Sept 1.

With respect to your true-up bill, there are extra charges in there to account for months in which you were a net consumer, but paid your bill entirely with NEM credits. Unfortuntely, the minimum bill needs to be paid with hard cash, not credits, so even if the minimum doesn't show up on your monthly statement, it is assessed at the end of the year if your usage in other months isn't high enough to cover it.

Although you only "paid" $0.18, don't forget that you also received the CA Climate Credit. This year, that was worth $36.24 in April and $23.99 in October, for a total of $60.23. That would have been cash in your pocket if not for the minimum bills. Now that the minimum bill has increased to $120 annually, you should expect to pay about $60 out of pocket at true-up if you are a net generator (or close to it), assuming the credit remains about the same next year.

thanks so much for the help! the links are very helpful.

yes I am aware of the climate credits and also the fact that NEM credits won't offset minimum charges. I am taking the "minimum charge adjustment" line from Page 3 of each bill to get the numbers I posted above.

even at $0.329/day, that's under $10 a month, which doesn't explain the October and November minimum charges I guess it's time to call SDGE and be on hold for an hour

[sensij]

thanks so much for the help! the links are very helpful.

yes I am aware of the climate credits and also the fact that NEM credits won't offset minimum charges. I am taking the "minimum charge adjustment" line from Page 3 of each bill to get the numbers I posted above.

even at $0.329/day, that's under $10 a month, which doesn't explain the October and November minimum charges I guess it's time to call SDGE and be on hold for an hour

October was a 32 day month for you. 32 * 0.329 = $10.53. That matches.

Again, November is not just the minimum charge for November, but will also include the minimum charge for any month that was net consumption and did not get the minimum assessed in that month, if that month's bill was offset by NEM credits. That is why it is more than a single month's charges.

[bando]

October was a 32 day month for you. 32 * 0.329 = $10.53. That matches.

Again, November is not just the minimum charge for November, but will also include the minimum charge for any month that was net consumption and did not get the minimum assessed in that month, if that month's bill was offset by NEM credits. That is why it is more than a single month's charges.

OK, thanks again for the clarification. i didn't realize that that part of the bill is trued up as well. i suppose it's a small price to pay for being on TOU ...