I just had my solar and power wall setup completed, and just received my first bill post approval and smart meter installation. Austin Energy uses Value of Solar pricing which basically pays you $0.097/kWh generated. However, they charge you for all of the electricity (plus fees per kWh) that the home uses regardless if the power is coming from the power walls and then just deducted the credit for all power generated. So basically I should just set a high reserve on my power wall backup to avoid cycling the batteries so much since there's no benefit to pulling from the power walls. Anyone else here with Austin Energy?
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Austin Energy and Powerwalls
- Thread starter DarylR
- Start date
And my followup question is, unless there was a rebate involved why not treat the Powerwall as behind the meter and only pay for net consumption? in my jurisdiction
in California, only a building permit is required for a hybrid battery system.
in California, only a building permit is required for a hybrid battery system.
CrazyRabbit
Active Member
you didn't say what rate they are charging you for electricity? is it $.097/kwh? you make it sound like they are marking up the solar that you use directly.
No experience with them, but I it is interesting to see your comments. We are thinking about adding solar and Powerwalls to our Round Rock home. Since there are multiple power providers, have you shopped to see if the others have better solar deals that let you use the Powerwalls with not charge to reduce your costs? We are paying about $0.17/kWh.
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ZBB
Emperor
I’m in Houston, so different plans….
But I’d recommend putting your rate plan into the Tesla app and then set it to time based control, with the Powerwall reserve set to something like 75% (you could experiment with this — I finally just dropped mine to 50%) The system will then optimize for lowest cost to you.
In our case, we have a free nights plan and see the following behavior -
- exclusively draw from grid at night during the free period
- draw from the Powerwalls and the beginning and end of the day when we are in peak. We typically start the morning between 88-93% on the Powerwall and drop to 80-85% in the morning.
- excess solar charges the Powerwall back to 100% before exporting to the grid.
- when there are multiple cloudy days in a row, we may not fully charge back to 100%, but we rarely have to drop the reserve below 50% to keep from drawing from the grid during peak.
Your plan will work differently, but the system should optimize usage to help you limit your bill…
How/why would you charged for the solar that goes directly to your house or Powerwall discharge to the house?
The meter should be connected to the grid and your house, solar and Powerwall are behind it. The meter captures grid imports that you would pay full price on and solar exports that you get $0.097/kWh credit for.
Sigh, us Austinites always have to explain to everyone how Value of Solar != Net Metering.
Value of Solar works like this:
1. Sell ALL solar generation back to Austin Energy at a fixed rate (currently $0.097/kWh, proposed to go up to $0.0991/kWh)
2. Buy back power according to standard tiered rates.
There are TWO meters. One that measures solar generation (goes directly after the inverter -- also why PW+ installations are not approved). Another that sits between the house and the grid.
The end result is that ANY electrical consumption is treated as grid consumption -- including Powerwall charging. Net result is that using the Powerwalls for self consumption is a net loss from an economical standpoint, since the efficiency losses cost real money.
Value of Solar works like this:
1. Sell ALL solar generation back to Austin Energy at a fixed rate (currently $0.097/kWh, proposed to go up to $0.0991/kWh)
2. Buy back power according to standard tiered rates.
There are TWO meters. One that measures solar generation (goes directly after the inverter -- also why PW+ installations are not approved). Another that sits between the house and the grid.
The end result is that ANY electrical consumption is treated as grid consumption -- including Powerwall charging. Net result is that using the Powerwalls for self consumption is a net loss from an economical standpoint, since the efficiency losses cost real money.
Yea, I set my reserve to 100% backup, otherwise you're just wasting energy for no gain.
I took a look at the Austin Energy rates and found the following:
- Monthly Charge - $10.00
- Tier Charges
- $0.02801 for 0-500 kWh
- $0.05832 for 500-1000 kWh
- $0.07814 for 1000-1500 kWh
- $0.09314 for 1500-2500 kWh
- $0.10814 for 2500+ kWh
- Fixed charges - $0.04599/kWh
- $0.02877 for Power Supply Adjustments
- $0.00516 for Community Benefit
- $0.01206 for Regulatory Charges
600 kWh | 1200 kWh | 2000 kWh | 3000 kWh | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | 10.00 | 10.00 | 10.00 | 10.00 |
| Tiered | 19.84 | 58.80 | 128.81 | 229.45 |
| Fixed | 27.59 | 55.19 | 91.98 | 137.97 |
| Solar | -58.20 | -116.40 | -194.00 | -291.00 |
| Total | -0.77 | 7.59 | 36.79 | 86.42 |
Not as what I though at first, but also not highly compelling to install solar. Somewhat similar the original proposed California NEM3.0, but more aligned with solar production versus the system component rating multiplied be a fixed charge.
It is very punitive for larger systems that are used to offset large consumption which is the wrong direction IMHO.
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To make this even more different, we are 20 miles north of Austin, there are a dozen or so of electricity and gas providers to choose from with different rates and metering modes. They even still send someone out to read the gas meter.
travwill
Active Member
Just Austin, not statewide. 45 minutes west of Austin here in Marble Falls with PEC - and its normal net metering.
Austin is a special city in Texas, very Democrat led/liberal in nature, lots more regulations, permits, costs, restrictions, etc. It's a reason that we want that "Texafornia" bubble in Austin to stay in Austin ;-)
Do you know if Round Rock has more "normal" net metering?
We have that net metering now in California. And hopefully they won't mess with the terms anymore.
Austin Energy is owned by the city of Austin. Therefore it doesn't extend outside city limits.
The rest of Texas is a deregulated grid, so any net metering agreements are between you and the provider you choose.
Luckily, the rate increase proposal for 2023 fixes how solar is treated. But I don't know if it'll pass review in its current form.
The really mind blowing thing about the VoS system is that at any point in time, AE can single handedly change your payback period.
You aren't locked into anything -- they can propose changing the VoS rate whenever.
The rest of Texas is a deregulated grid, so any net metering agreements are between you and the provider you choose.
Luckily, the rate increase proposal for 2023 fixes how solar is treated. But I don't know if it'll pass review in its current form.
The really mind blowing thing about the VoS system is that at any point in time, AE can single handedly change your payback period.
You aren't locked into anything -- they can propose changing the VoS rate whenever.
Yes it does. I’m right next door to Round Rock in Pflugerville. Both are in the Oncor service delivery area which uses net metering.
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