Question about PGE NEM2

[dore_m]

Sorry if this has been asked repeatedly already -

When we're put on NEM2 with the Time of Use billing, will the energy that goes back to the grid during the day be credited by kW-hr, or by the dollar amount? That is, does PGE give us more money for producing energy at the peak times? Or are we credited at a flat rate?

-Dore

[PugPower]

I believe it's the same as SDGE NEM 2.0....dollar amount. Energy produced during peak hours is credited for the higher $ amount vs. off-peak.

[Ampster]

Yes, I am on PGE and they accumulated the net dollars and the kWhrs that you generate and use for each period. At True Up any credit is only paid at approximately $0.04 per kWhr. If you are in a CCA (Community Choice Aggregation) service area then a portion of your bill may be paid out at a higher rate depending on the policy of your CCA.

[J.P.M.]

Yes, I am on PGE and they accumulated the net dollars and the kWhrs that you generate and use for each period. At True Up any credit is only paid at approximately $0.04 per kWhr.

I'd add, for clarity, that's any credit for excess generation.

[Ampster]

No need for clarification because on the PGE bill it is described as "Net Usage". Actually it would be confusing to call it generation because generation and distribution are separately broken out on many PGE bills.

[PugPower]

I'm going to try and clarify this, because this can all be confusing.

Under NEM 2.0 and TOU rates:

* kWh That you send to the POCO (Electric Co.) are credited to you at the dollar amount according to when they are generated under TOU

* At True-Up any credits you have will be used to offset any months which you took more kWh than you sent and owe the POCO money.

* NBC (Non-bypassable charges) and Minimum charges CAN NOT be offset by generation credits under NEM 2.0 (these equal a few cents per a kWh received)

* Any excess credits after True-Up (Credits left over after off-setting your total usage for the year) will be credited to your account at the wholesale dollar amount, which comes out to a few cents per a kWh.

I believe that's it in a nutshell. How did I do?

[Ampster]

.......

* At True-Up any credits you have will be used to offset any months which you took more kWh than you sent and owe the POCO money.

An exception to that is worth noting for those that can shift significant loads. The True Up is based on the dollars accumulated even though one might have a positive kWhr balance. Several years ago on NEM 1.0 with Southern California Edison, I actually took more than I sent to SCE, but I had a negative dollar balance and it washed out at True Up.

* NBC (Non-bypassable charges) and Minimum charges CAN NOT be offset by generation credits under NEM 2.0 (these equal a few cents per a kWh received)

That is correct. It does look like my NBCs offset my minimum charges on the accumulated bucket YTD. I will have to see how this reconciles at True Up to be certain.

Any excess credits after True-Up (Credits left over after off-setting your total usage for the year) will be credited to your account at the wholesale dollar amount, which comes out to a few cents per a kWh.

I believe that's it in a nutshell. How did I do?

You explained it well in a nutshell. Sometimes it takes talent to be brief.

[J.P.M.]

I'm going to try and clarify this, because this can all be confusing.

Under NEM 2.0 and TOU rates:

* kWh That you send to the POCO (Electric Co.) are credited to you at the dollar amount according to when they are generated under TOU

* At True-Up any credits you have will be used to offset any months which you took more kWh than you sent and owe the POCO money.

* NBC (Non-bypassable charges) and Minimum charges CAN NOT be offset by generation credits under NEM 2.0 (these equal a few cents per a kWh received)

* Any excess credits after True-Up (Credits left over after off-setting your total usage for the year) will be credited to your account at the wholesale dollar amount, which comes out to a few cents per a kWh.

I believe that's it in a nutshell. How did I do?

Since you're asking, aside from a couple of typos (which I'm particularly good at creating and missing on final check before pulling the trigger on a post), not bad.

But the way I read it, I'd clean up the "At True-Up..." statement. FWIW, I'd have written it as: "At True-Up, any credits will be used to offset charges incurred during any billing periods when you took more power from the POCO than you sent to the POCO." But that's just a serving suggestion like the picture on a box of Hamburger Helper.

First off (and in spite of what PG & E may imply in their billing schedule info), billing periods are billing periods, not calendar months as you wrote it. Each of the 21 PG & E billing schedules have 12 billing periods/yr., with each billing period having approximately 30 days, but that's where the similarities to a calendar end. The opening and closing dates for each billing period for all schedules don't fall on the first day of the month except by coincidence, and the whole billing schedule changes every year for reasons I haven't been able to figure out except to account for leap year. See the 2019 PG & E meter reading schedule.

Second, excess generation credits offset charges from the POCO, not time periods as in: "...credits you have will be used to offset any months..." ?

[bcroe]

I think the billing date was totally dependent on when the meter man got out for
most of my life. Remembering him announcing himself and going up the back stairs
to read the meter inside the attic, 1949. With 2015 net metering became extremely
erratic. Finally they did remote reading which seems to be done on one of the last
business days of the month. Bruce Roe