Help with picking anniversary month

[foo1bar]

look into it some solar companies pay $1000 per buying lead. $25 just for a referal $25 a day x 365 days is nice extra income. sunpro is one of them.

You're grossly underestimating the cost of a forum like this if you think $25 pays for a year of operation.

[SunEagle]

My last post was in #21. In that post I defended the business model of the sponsor of this forum. This thread seems to have a life of its own without me.

I was just trying to limit the amount of sniping going on in this post and my scatter gun hit you and khanh dam. Just trying to keep it civil.

[khanh dam]

You're grossly underestimating the cost of a forum like this if you think $25 pays for a year of operation.

I spend most of my time on "free" Facebook forums, anyways. you are right, you win.

[petesamprs]

OP here - thanks for those that provided constructive comments in a constructive way.

I'm still having a hard time grasping the concept that reset month doesn't ultimately matter. If my annual production = annual usage, ideally I don't draw any net KWH from the utility for the year and my bill each month is effectively $0. However, in my usage pattern outlined in the first post, if my reset date is end of Feb, every year I'll have a bill from the utility in the summer months. So it seems that the anniversary month does matter from utility bill perspective. Can you help me understand what i'm missing?

I wonder if the confusion/misunderstanding is how the true-up actually work from one utility to the next. With my utility, my solar production adds to a bank that I draw from. If that bank is depleted in a given month, they bill me for what I actually used from them. On the reset date the bank resets to 0 (paid out at wholesale). As far as I know, it doesn't look back at my prior 12 months to calculate my overall net usage to determine what my wholesale rate payout is, just whatever is in the bank on the reset date. That is where the inefficiency lies.

[Ampster]

The reset month does matter more to some people and less to others. I think you are right about how yours works and if my utility billed the same as yours i would also change.

[J.P.M.]

OP here - thanks for those that provided constructive comments in a constructive way.

I'm still having a hard time grasping the concept that reset month doesn't ultimately matter. If my annual production = annual usage, ideally I don't draw any net KWH from the utility for the year and my bill each month is effectively $0. However, in my usage pattern outlined in the first post, if my reset date is end of Feb, every year I'll have a bill from the utility in the summer months. So it seems that the anniversary month does matter from utility bill perspective. Can you help me understand what i'm missing?

I wonder if the confusion/misunderstanding is how the true-up actually work from one utility to the next. With my utility, my solar production adds to a bank that I draw from. If that bank is depleted in a given month, they bill me for what I actually used from them. On the reset date the bank resets to 0 (paid out at wholesale). As far as I know, it doesn't look back at my prior 12 months to calculate my overall net usage to determine what my wholesale rate payout is, just whatever is in the bank on the reset date. That is where the inefficiency lies.

You're money, your choice. I'd only respectfully suggest you examine your POCO's tariffs and policies for possible consequences and also make sure you are correct in your logic.

Also, a program note: As of 03/27, 0815 P.D.T, SDG & E has not provided me with the information on allowing a change in trueup anniversary date as they promised within 5 working days of 03/19 when I made the formal request and started climbing the chain of command for resolution from a higher authority after I was told it is not, and never was possible.

[sabersix]

With my utility, my solar production adds to a bank that I draw from. If that bank is depleted in a given month, they bill me for what I actually used from them.

If you are getting billed more than once per year, then this is not NET metering as most of us know it. My solar production "bank" is allowed to go negative during the year without payment from me. It is only at the anniversary date that the bank balance is brought to zero. If my balance was negative, I owe them money (once per year). If my balance was positive, they give me a credit (at wholesale rate).

With this NET metering arrangement it doesn't really matter when the anniversary date occurs.

[petesamprs]

Interesting, your way is a lot simpler and I agree that with your net metering framework it doesn't matter when your anniversary is. In my case, my utility bills me anytime my "bank" is exhausted and I am drawing from them, so I am incentivized to always keep the bank above 0. This is why anniversary date is important for me (and it seems some others).

[bcroe]

If you are getting billed more than once per year, then this is not NET metering as most of us know it. My solar production "bank" is allowed to go negative during the year without payment from me. It is only at the anniversary date that the bank balance is brought to zero. If my balance was negative, I owe them money (once per year). If my balance was positive, they give me a credit (at wholesale rate).

Here in northern IL, Net Metering billing is once a month, any month the bank is
negative, I pay to have it reset to 0. I never receive a payment, must use banked
energy myself. Bruce Roe

[azdave]

If you are getting billed more than once per year, then this is not NET metering as most of us know it.

I guess I'm not in the "most of us" category either. I rarely hear of the type of NET agreement you mention. If I have NET billable energy for the month, I owe it at that time (but they don't settle the banked account monthly like the newer NET agreements my RE neighbors are signing). My POCO does not wait until many months later to see if I over-generate in the future to even things up. My anniversary date is at the absolute worst time of the year for me and means I lose the retail value of any banked energy. I would much rather use those kWhs as opposed to receiving a wholesale credit for them annually. One good thing about my NET agreement is that I was not forced to go to a TOU plan. All my banked energy has the same value and can be used anytime I choose. I'm not forced to use off-peak credits only during off-peak hours or peak credits only during peak hours.

[J.P.M.]

I guess I'm not in the "most of us" category either. I rarely hear of the type of NET agreement you mention. If I have NET billable energy for the month, I owe it at that time (but they don't settle the banked account monthly like the newer NET agreements my RE neighbors are signing). My POCO does not wait until many months later to see if I over-generate in the future to even things up. My anniversary date is at the absolute worst time of the year for me and means I lose the retail value of any banked energy. I would much rather use those kWhs as opposed to receiving a wholesale credit for them annually. One good thing about my NET agreement is that I was not forced to go to a TOU plan. All my banked energy has the same value and can be used anytime I choose. I'm not forced to use off-peak credits only during off-peak hours or peak credits only during peak hours.

I don't recall anything written in blood that NEM agreements must have annual trueups. 12 billing period trueups are common to the point of being almost ubiquitous, but there's nothing written that 6 billing period or any number of billing periods could be used to square accounts with the POCO.

If less/more than annual, after a few trueup cycles it'll all work out the same, so which month(s) are trueup still won't matter in the long run.