SDGE Standard (DR) NEM 1.0 Customer ... what's next?

[rwb1921]

I just checked online and my Tiered Plan is ending May 6th for SDGE. See below. I have to make a choice online to stay on Standard Plan which I did now. I feel it will be best for now for my situation. Had I not done anything, they would have switched me to TOU Plan. See below for info from SDGE plan changes page. I am having to cancel the change to TOU now and may have to each year it appears. Commitment is for 1 year.


Your current pricing plan is changing to Time of Use (TOU-DR1) on May 07, 2019. Please see below to learn more about your pricing plan or compare other pricing plan options to choose the best plan for your energy needs.

My action:

Cancel Enrollment of Pending Pricing Plan

You have selected to cancel your new plan. You must review the information below and then agree to the terms and conditions (*required fields) to be re-enrolled in your old pricing plan.
Standard (DR) summary:

• Estimated Cost Per Year:
  $23 per year
  
  
  
  Your estimated cost is based on current approved rates, your past 12 months of electricity use for the selected meter, your choice of capacity reservation and any other information you may have provided. Actual costs may vary depending on rate changes and your actual electricity usage.

• 1 Year Commitment
  • This plan has a one-year commitment. At the end of one year, you can remain on the plan or choose a different plan.

• 1 Year No Risk Pricing - Not Available

• Details
  • Pricing based on how much electricity is used.
  • As you use more electricity, you cross into higher cost tiers.
  • Pricing does not change with time of day.
  • Includes baseline allowance.
  • Subject to High Usage Charge.

• This plan is for you if:
  • You can conserve to stay under the baseline allowance, or
  • You cannot shift some of your electricity use away from the on-peak hours of 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Cancel Enrollment of Pending Pricing Plan

You have successfully cancelled your pending plan and will stay on your current plan, Standard (DR).

[MoJ]

Thanks guys ... I have a instinctual distrust of utility companies, so you're confirming where I'm at Since I have everything reporting to PVO (rainforest for consumption, inverter for generation) I'm going to take a stab at it from the data I can download there.

At a high level, looking back and applying the new rates against past performance, I think it's probably best to stay tiered. 10 out of 12 months I'm in the 1st tier - and the other two months (July, August) I hit the 2nd tier. I never hit the "superuser" or now baseline+400% tier.

I really appreciate the thoughtful confirmation - both of my logic and assumptions!

@JPM- I just posted another response in the panel cleaning thread ... I did an experiment measuring output at the same time, two different days (all 100% clear). After cleaning (and I mean CLEANING... hosed down, then with cleaning solution, then soft bristle brush, rinse, then squeegee) I saw a 0.6% increase. Definitely not worth the time, effort, or water cost!

[J.P.M.]

MoJ:

Regarding your question, re: declining to go over to TOU pricing. - See the following:

https://www.sgdenews.com/article/trending-questions-regarding-time-use-pricing-plans

That info is dated 03/04/2019.

From the looks of that info, it appears to me like NEM 1.0 eligible such as yourself (and me, FWIW), and other users will be able to stay on tiered rates, for now anyway.

It also says that if a users is switched to TOU, and their bill is more, SDG & E will refund the difference. Maybe I'm a terminal skeptic, but that's not the same as being able to go back to a tiered rate.

BUT, I wouldn't trust SDG & E to be anything but vague and confusing (purposely so ??) about the need for, and the mechanics of, the user to proactively notify SDG & E of their (the user's) choice to stay on (or return to) tiered rates once SDG & E changes that user over to a T.O.U. rate.

I'd take note of item #5 of the above referenced SDG & E article: "The non-TOU plans remain available for customers who choose to opt out of TOU pricing plans." However, my above referenced skepticism remains.

The operative words there (for me anyway) are "opt out", which seems to imply or reinforce the idea that if the user doesn't actively opt out, and maybe before the SDG & E initiated switch over to TOU occurs, that user is going to TOU. The folks on the phone at SDG & E are silent on that point so far ("Duh - we have no information on that.")

As for how long a tiered rate schedule may remain available, who knows ? My ignorant guess would be that as long as the CPUC mandates it, existing customers who are on tiered rates and want to remain on them, will be allowed to do just that with a tiered rate available to such users but with the option to choose that rate schedule closed to new users at some point, and maybe after 2016 + 20 years, tiered rates simply cease. But, who knows.

In the meantime, and more FWIW only, the greenbutton data from SDG & E seems to match up pretty well with what I have with respect to my usage as for amount and times of use. I'd suggest it's possible to get a decent SWAG at how much of an annual bill change will occur ($$+/-) if/when a switch in rate schedules occurs.

For me, at this time, staying on tiered rates is in my best financial interest. But, every situation is different.

It's a bit of a PITA setting up an accurate spreadsheet to figure all the rate options to get a best guess as to what's the best choice for any user, but once it's done, and done thoroughly and correctly (the real PITA part), the rest is pretty much of a cakewalk to keep updated. If you do it right, you'll learn a lot about rates and maybe come to share some of my skepticism about SDG & E's veracity. Not that I fault them for it. It's just business.

As for which TOU rate plan you choose, unless you choose some other UOU plan, the OAR (Otherwise Applicable Rate) will be sch. DR-SES. If so, it's possible to gat a rough estimate (using PVWatts data) for how much annual bill offset will result from your 7.29 kW horizontal array. Your net bill will then be, very approximately, whatever you would be billed for without the PV minus that bill offset, in $$'s, that's provided by the PV. Holler back with your zip if interested.

An off topic question: How's your horizontal orientation working with respect to panel fouling (dirt) and performance ?

[Ampster]

The answer depends on when your usage occurs. It also could be influenced by how much discretion you have over when you use heavy loads. On your tiered rate plan, are you getting into upper tiers?

I prefer to model my usage by TOU rate period to get the answer about which TOU rate period is best. Since I already have my annual usage by TOU period that is easy to do even with my rudimentary spreadsheet skills. The alternative for you, since you dont have interval data, is to download your Green Button data from your utility and use a spreadsheet to group your data into the relevant TOU periods.

Whether or not to trust your utility to do that for you is a personal decision.

[MoJ]

I think I know the answer, but wanted to get a confirmation from the collective brilliance here

I got PTO just under the wire to qualify for NEM 1.0 DR (tiered) rates. My understanding is that I can decline the TOU plans and stick with my tiered structure - and that this is the right decision.

I'm slightly undersized, so I usually owe $300-500 at True-up. Looking at TOU, I definitely have my peaks 4-9pm. The SDGE plan calculator says I would save $45/year going with TOU-DR-P. But if I do that - I would forever lose the ability to go back to the standard tiered tarrif, right?

If I had to go to TOU, it would make sense to look at putting in a battery hybrid, but that would push out my ROI (currently should breakeven at 48 months). Not even sure a battery will be easy (new inverter, would that mess up my NEM 1.0 grandfather status?).

Thanks for your input folks,
mj