CPUC NEM 3.0 discussion

[Sky Blue]

Yea, the story says $24.15 is the latest proposed monthly fixed charge. The $51 and $73 rates were turned down. Personally, I could live with $24.15 but it would be interesting to see is treated like a minimum delivery charge or if any energy use gets tacked on to the fixed fee.

Thanks for confirming that. I just came across this more detailed writeup about the issue.

California regulator takes income-based electric bills off the table

CPUC’s new proposal ditches the controversial plan to charge ratepayers based on their income and instead puts forth fixed monthly charges.

www.canarymedia.com

 

[getakey]

So how does this impact CCAs? I'm betting the $24 fee gets passed onto CCA customers. Then PG&E lowers the per kWh rate by $.05 to $.07, that minimizes the CCA advantage on generation rates.

 

[sunwarriors]

I am ok with the idea of a fixed charge, but make it as low as that $10/month and don't offer any cuts in rates just yet.

The problem I still see is with how the utilities are structured. I don't think they care what they pay for energy because they just pass on the charges to you. That was what SDG&E said when the gas cost spike happened.

It can be $10/kWh and they just wave their hands up and say that's what the market is charging now so we pass that on to you, too bad.

I assume if they did nothing else, but suddenly tack on $10/month from every consumer/household, that's better than a lot of their other proposals, but in the end, they aren't working for any of us.

These are all for-profit corporations so they'll eventually screw over everyone. Like all the complaints about poor people vs. rich, the energy companies just shafted renters/community solar installs when they stopped allowing them to use energy behind their meters.

 

[getakey]

so no one else thinks this kills CCAs

 

[Sky Blue]

so no one else thinks this kills CCAs

That's a good question. If the CPUC assesses the $24 fee against CCA customers, I suppose some CCA customers would go back to PG&E, SCE, or SDG&E to save a few cents per kWh. But I don't think so many would leave that the CCAs have to shut down. On the other hand, if the CPUC only applies the fee to corporate utility customers, the CCAs might decide to adopt the fee for their customers as well and lower their kWh rates accordingly. But if the CCAs don't adopt the fee, then corporate utility customers like me who opted out of their local CCA might decide to join after all to save the $24 fee.

Depending on how it plays out either the corporate utilities or the CCAs are going to have some problems. And the CPUC is going to catch a lot of heat from all sides.

 

[getakey]

That's a good question. If the CPUC assesses the $24 fee against CCA customers, I suppose some CCA customers would go back to PG&E, SCE, or SDG&E to save a few cents per kWh. But I don't think so many would leave that the CCAs have to shut down. On the other hand, if the CPUC only applies the fee to corporate utility customers, the CCAs might decide to adopt the fee for their customers as well and lower their kWh rates accordingly. But if the CCAs don't adopt the fee, then corporate utility customers like me who opted out of their local CCA might decide to join after all to save the $24 fee.

Depending on how it plays out either the corporate utilities or the CCAs are going to have some problems. And the CPUC is going to catch a lot of heat from all sides.

I don't see how CCA customers would escape the $24 fee. CCAs pass on all Distribution charges from the utilties. The CCA can only control the generation charges

 

[gene]

Update on state legislature bills to get rooftop solar growing again

If you live in or near Sacramento and can attend any of these meetings, let Cailey know. [email protected]
Link for information, links to bills and possible talking points

These bills will be heard at State Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications. Committee Hearing Date: 04/16/24
SB-938 Electrical and gas corporations: rate recovery: political activities and advertising. Would prohibit private utilities from lobbying with ratepayer funds.

These bills will be heard at the State Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications. Committee Hearing Date: 04/22/24
SB-1374 Net energy metering: (Becker) would restore the right of renters, farmers, and schools to make and consume their own solar energy, a right that the state took away from these folks last year.
SB 1305 Electricity: virtual power plant procurement.(Stern) would require utilities to treat their customers with both solar and batteries as a “Virtual Power Plant”, and purchase the electricity from them in the same way they would a solar farm in the desert. This has the potential to reduce the need for giant solar farms and their expensive long-distance power lines. This could save ratepayers as much as $120 billion over the next thirty years.

For more information on other bills being heard at the meeting, here's the link

Bills heard at Assembly Energy, Utilities and Communications
Hearing date: 04/17/24
AB-2619 Net energy metering. (Connolly) would ban solar taxes and require the CPUC to revise their net metering decision to align with the state’s actual clean energy goals.
AB1999 might be heard on April 17th Assembly Energy, Utilities and Communications. Stay tuned
AB2054 Passed in Assembly Energy, Utilities and Communications on 04/01/24. pass as amended and re-refer to Committee on Appropriations

Bill location but no hearing date
AB 2256 (Friedman) would require the CPUC to include all the benefits of rooftop solar when deciding how much credit solar users get. Passed to Assembly Energy, Utilities and Communications. Not scheduled for a hearing
AB 3118 (Wallis) would make solar the “official state energy” of California, the same way the poppy is our state flower. Assembly Energy, Utilities and Communications. Not scheduled for a hearing

There have been many articles on How did regulators decide on the fixed charge amount?
The $24.15 fee was benchmarked to the fixed infrastructure charge currently used by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). So it seems there was once again no analysis by the CPUC and just pulled the amount out of thin air, thinking this will fly. Many of the articles published online and news outlets seem to think this is fine. But it's not
I have sent out tweets directly to many news outlets who have missed the point and have said:
Even at $24 per month, the #UtilityTax would increase bills for millions of working people.
The article failed to say AB 1999 caps the utility tax back at $10/month, allowing it to increase at the inflation rate. Rates never go down, only up

 

[getakey]

CA Supreme Court to hear case

California Supreme Court to hear appeal seeking to overturn new rooftop solar rules

Environmental groups say the California Public Utilities Commission made the wrong call on its NEM 3 decision

www.sandiegouniontribune.com

 

[LiBeRtAs]

Just came across this graph:

https://assets.solar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/import-vs-export-prices-in-nem-3.png

at

What is NEM 3.0 and How Will it Impact California Solar Owners in 2024?

California utilities have approved Net Energy Metering (NEM) 3.0, substantially altering the energy savings of going solar.

www.solar.com

Dont know how to drag a pic from one page to another or I would have it here, dont want to download it first. Anyway, the numbers here make a strong argument for taking from the grid in the non peak hours and EXPORTING between 7 pm and 9 pm. My question is after you put in your TOU plan, how would you control it so that which is stored in my PW 3 could export to the grid ONLY during those two hours?

 

[getakey]

You could manually adjust the Peak Time to be only that 2 hour period and make everything else Off Peak