My State Farm rep got back to me... first of all, he says in his 20+ years of doing this... I'm the first person to ever ask him about having the PoCo included as a named insured on my homeowners insurance. I can't tell you how many "this is a first..." I've heard trying to get this blasted PV+ESS installed on my goddamn house.
We also think it's funny PG&E won't help buy insurance to the millions of homeowners in California when PG&E's equipment catches our homes on fire. But now PG&E wants to be insured if my tiny solar array causes them damage? The CPUC is stupid for allowing this double standard to occur. Some insurance companies even dropped homeowners in Contra Costa County since PG&E's fire risk was too high. Where's PG&E helping those homeowners? Jerks.
Anyway, he says things are all screwed up due to the Midwest being frozen in a giant ball of ice. So, right now State Farm isn't offering any underwriting feedback; especially for weird requests like this. But, he thinks the following:
1) Using State Farm's $1mm Umbrella rider won't work for this PG&E requirement because the umbrella isn't expressly attached to the home. And the umbrella doesn't have the language that PG&E wants covered under the liability insurance* (see below). He also thinks State Farm's underwriters won't allow PG&E to be added as a named insured on the umbrella.
2) He thinks I need to up the total of the homeowners liability (the portion in excess of the actual dwelling coverage) to have what amounts to a $1mm liability for things outside of the dwelling. So I'm looking at a total $2.5mm coverage instead of $2.0mm (or I can maybe drop the umbrella, but that kind of defeated the purpose of the umbrella). He admits it's stupid to have such a high total home insurance when the core property just doesn't reasonably call for it.
All in, he's thinking if State Farm's underwriters even allow PG&E to be a named insured, then it'll be about
$100 extra premium per year. All these stupid costs keep adding up... from PG&E wanting a $800 NEMMT interconnect fee to higher insurance, this going green business is a total scam.
* Note: PG&E needs these express terms in the portion of insurance they are named on...
Premises-Operations, Owners and Contractors Protective, Products/Completed Operations Hazard,
Explosion, Collapse, Underground, Contractual Liability, and Broad Form Property
Damage including Completed Operations