SDG&E - Changing Rate Plans on NEM 1.0

[pianogineer]

Have had my system installed for the last year and loving it. Right now I'm just on the standard DR plan. I actually ended up with a $0.19 bill last year at true up -- so obviously I oversized my system a bit, but did so intentionally in anticipation of an EV.

I've run the numbers, based on last year's usage and projected EV charging, and it seems like EV TOU 2 will be a far superior plan for my household (both of us work so not consuming much during peak generation). So, my questions:

1) I presume changing my rate plan from DR to EV TOU 2 won't affect my NEM 1.0 status?

2) If my analysis was wrong or my usage patterns change, will I be able to move back to a DR plan? Or, once you're off you're off? Again, will want to preserve my NEM 1.0 status.

Thanks!

[J.P.M.]

Have had my system installed for the last year and loving it. Right now I'm just on the standard DR plan. I actually ended up with a $0.19 bill last year at true up -- so obviously I oversized my system a bit, but did so intentionally in anticipation of an EV.

I've run the numbers, based on last year's usage and projected EV charging, and it seems like EV TOU 2 will be a far superior plan for my household (both of us work so not consuming much during peak generation). So, my questions:

1) I presume changing my rate plan from DR to EV TOU 2 won't affect my NEM 1.0 status?

2) If my analysis was wrong or my usage patterns change, will I be able to move back to a DR plan? Or, once you're off you're off? Again, will want to preserve my NEM 1.0 status.

Thanks!

I'd avoid any chance of confusion or misinterpretation and go straight to the horse's mouth when available. The particulars are on the SDG & E website. Give them a call if you can't locate the information.

[Sunking]

Agree with JPM. You should ask the folks who actually know.

[J.P.M.]

OP: When I walk in my neighborhood, I've occasionally seen a truck with a reference to piano tuning on the side. Since that's not a very common profession - would that be you going down Mountain Meadow Rd., or coincidence ? Just wondering.

[inetdog]

A friend of mine who worked at the Xero Palo Alto Research Center (PARC, where among other things the mouse was first incorporated into an OS) had business cards with the job title Research Pianist.

[pianogineer]

Not me -- I'm actually not a piano tuner. I'm just an electrical engineer who likes to play the piano

[J.P.M.]

Not me -- I'm actually not a piano tuner. I'm just an electrical engineer who likes to play the piano

Understood. Thank you. Happy tunes.

[pianogineer]

Just to follow up on this, I just got off the phone with SDG&E. I'll start by saying that the lady I spoke to seemed very knowledgeable and had complete answers to all my questions, which I was surprised by. I entered the options about solar questions as I went through the automated menu, so not sure if that went straight to their net metering department. Anyway...

She very clearly said that I'm grandfathered into the NEM 1.0 regulations for 20 years, regardless of what happens on the rate plan side of things. She also said that the EV rate plans are all 3 month trials, so I'll have 3 months to revert from when the new rate plan goes into effect. It wasn't exactly clear what happened after that 3 months, if I'd ever be able to go back to a non-TOU plan after that, but she did say that because all rates will be TOU by '19 it doesn't matter too much...

Overall a very helpful call. I've run the detailed analysis for my usage, and I think it would be hard for EV-TOU2 to be an unwise decision for an EV household (charging at night) that consumes more than it produces.

[philips]

... I'm grandfathered into the NEM 1.0 regulations for 20 years, regardless of what happens on the rate plan side of things.

In case you did not know, rates and time of use periods can and will change - the NEM agreement doesn't control that.

If you don't use much energy during peak, then EV-TOU2 is currently the way to go.

[CGameProgrammer]

The DR plan is tiered: . The TOU plan is not. For the previous month, the rate for the first ~360 kW-h used in the month was 17 cents per kW-h, and 36 cents per kW-h for the remainder. With solar you would always be within the first tier (17 cents per) so it seems to me like DR is the superior plan for solar. But I don't have solar yet.

Time-Of-Use is roughly equal to, or slightly more than, the first tier of DR during the middle of the night and is more expensive than it at all other times. From what I understand, the only valid use of TOU is if you consume a large net amount of electricity.

[J.P.M.]

The DR plan is tiered: . The TOU plan is not. For the previous month, the rate for the first ~360 kW-h used in the month was 17 cents per kW-h, and 36 cents per kW-h for the remainder. With solar you would always be within the first tier (17 cents per) so it seems to me like DR is the superior plan for solar. But I don't have solar yet.

Time-Of-Use is roughly equal to, or slightly more than, the first tier of DR during the middle of the night and is more expensive than it at all other times. From what I understand, the only valid use of TOU is if you consume a large net amount of electricity.

Don't shoot me - I'm only the piano player, but the actual situation is a bit more involved than that. Also, I believe your numbers are off.

The daily allowance, which is where the tier 1 and basic monthly allowance come from, varies with type of service - gas and electric or electric only - # of billing days, climate zone and season. Example: tier one for all elec. household, coastal and inland service areas is closer to 650 kWh/month in the winter, 410 kWh/billing period in summer. Current tier 1 pricing is ~ $0.17548 - $0.19134 winter/summer respectively. Tier 2 is $0.36189 - $0.39458 winter/summer respectively.

For T.O.U., with a PV system, the per kWh rate for about 875 summer hours/yr. is currently $0.46816/kWh. The remaining 7,900 hrs. for the remainder of the year is priced between $0.20888 and $0.23106/kWh.

For T.O.U. without a PV system, the picture is a bit more complicated in that while the peak summer rates are similar to the solar user peak summer rates at $0.44689/kWh, the other timed rates are between $0.35522/kWh - $0.39220/kWh. HOWEVER, all those rates are eligible for a credit of either $0.18639/kWh (winter) or $0.20322/kWh (summer) against the first 130% of monthly baseline allowance - which is the same kWh size as tier 1 allotment.

Depending on the PVsystem size, usage and PV system output, a solar user may or may not fall within the first tier for billing, at least not every month, and with some decided time shifting of loads, both solar, and to some degree non solar users may find some benefit from T.O.U.

I don't agree with the statement that with solar you will always be within the first tier. Each case is different.

If you're currently on tiered rates and want to see if T.O.U. makes sense for you, it's necessary to download prior use from the SDG & E website in 15 min. increments, run a spreadsheet with the hourly rates (and credits as applicable) and get a total by billing period and for the year. That will give you an estimate of a T.O.U. bill assuming your usage doesn't change much. If you are similar to an average SDG & E user, and have a PV system, but can manage to stay away from a lot of use for those 875 hrs. of prime time high summer rates, T.O.U. may save you a few bucks or a lot, not only in monthly bill, but because a smaller PV system (read less initial $$) may well offset as much of a T.O.U. bill and produce the same annual savings as a larger PV system working against a tiered rate tariff. However, it's not necessarily a slam dunk either way. We'll all probably be on T.O.U in a few years anyway, so it's a bit of a moot point.

See the current SDG & E rate sheets for current and effective tariffs for particulars. It's a bit of a PITA to explain without seeing the rate sheets.

[philips]

Time-Of-Use is roughly equal to, or slightly more than, the first tier of DR during the middle of the night and is more expensive than it at all other times. From what I understand, the only valid use of TOU is if you consume a large net amount of electricity.

TOU with solar comes down to: Sell high, buy low. It has little to do with how much energy you consume.

[rayoflight]

(1) yes you get to keep Nem 1.0 for 20 years, absent certain exceptions (ex. Modifying to increase system efficiency by more than 10%).

(2) this is a good question. If DR rate plan is available you should be able to switch back. The issue is what happens once all residential customers are on time of use. Can you switch back? Uncertain.

Sdge customers are already on nem 2.0 (nem-st) but get to keep tiered rate plan for 5 years. We won't know for certain what happens to nem 1.0 customers once all are on tou. Do they get to keep the tiered plan for 20 years? The intention of the nem 1.0 rules was to fix the economics of solar, so one could argue it's unfair to force nem 1.0 on tou. On the other hand, solar customers are not being charged any differently than non solar customers. Only time will tell.

See CPUC 2827. Here are some sections that might be helpful.

(A) For all eligible customer-generators taking service under contracts or tariffs employing baseline and over baseline rates, any net monthly consumption of electricity shall be calculated according to the terms of the contract or tariff to which the same customer would be assigned to, or be eligible for, if the customer was not an eligible customer-generator. If those same customer-generators are net generators over a billing period, the net kilowatthours generated shall be valued at the same price per kilowatthour as the electric utility would charge for the baseline quantity of electricity during that billing period, and if the number of kilowatthours generated exceeds the baseline quantity, the excess shall be valued at the same price per kilowatthour as the electric utility would charge for electricity over the baseline quantity during that billing period.



(B) For all eligible customer-generators taking service under contracts or tariffs employing time-of-use rates, any net monthly consumption of electricity shall be calculated according to the terms of the contract or tariff to which the same customer would be assigned, or be eligible for, if the customer was not an eligible customer-generator. When those same customer-generators are net generators during any discrete time-of-use period, the net kilowatthours produced shall be valued at the same price per kilowatthour as the electric utility would charge for retail kilowatthour sales during that same time-of-use period. If the eligible customer-generator s time-of-use electrical meter is unable to measure the flow of electricity in two directions, paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) shall apply.

(g) Except for the time-variant kilowatthour pricing portion of any tariff adopted by the commission pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 2851, each net energy metering contract or tariff shall be identical, with respect to rate structure, all retail rate components, and any monthly charges, to the contract or tariff to which the same customer would be assigned if the customer did not use a renewable electrical generation facility, except that eligible customer-generators shall not be assessed standby charges on the electrical generating capacity or the kilowatthour production of a renewable electrical generation facility. The charges for all retail rate components for eligible customer-generators shall be based exclusively on the customer-generator s net kilowatthour consumption over a 12-month period, without regard to the eligible customer-generator s choice as to from whom it purchases electricity that is not self-generated. Any new or additional demand charge, standby charge, customer charge, minimum monthly charge, interconnection charge, or any other charge that would increase an eligible customer-generator s costs beyond those of other customers who are not eligible customer-generators in the rate class to which the eligible customer-generator would otherwise be assigned if the customer did not own, lease, rent, or otherwise operate a renewable electrical generation facility is contrary to the intent of this section, and shall not form a part of net energy metering contracts or tariffs.

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