Help/Advice: PG&E Forcing Me Off EV2-A due to 800% Baseline Allowance Rule

[CarPortal]

I received a notice from PG&E that I'm exceeding 800% baseline usage and thus will be forced off EV2-A. They plan to put me on a time of use rate plan E-TOU-D. Baseline usage is 336 kWh/month and I'm hitting 2800 kWh/month or 833%. However, 75% of the usage occurs between midnight and 5:00AM obviously charging my Tesla Model 3. I'm stuck driving 170 miles/day from the Bay Area to the Central Valley daily until my company approves a transfer to the Bay Area. It sucks, but it is what it is. Luckily at least it's a reverse commute. My other car is an SUV that gets 14.9 mpg commuting which is both expensive and dirty.

I called PG&E customer service and was told this is the tariff approved by the PUC and there is no provision for PG&E to do anything else other than penalizing you for going over 800%. You'll be on E-TOU-D for one year and then can reapply for EV2-A. In the interim perhaps you can consider changes to your lifestyle to decrease your energy usage (yes the CSR literally said that). While I'm still on EV2-A they are saying they could make the switch at any moment with 30 days written notice.

Has anyone else run into this? Any advice?

I plan to escalate within PG&E and to contact the PUC, but I cannot make this my life work. Ultimately I will probably just bow my head and make sure I go below 800% if necessary although it may already be too late. I know I can do things like charge at SuperChargers, charge at work or use the SUV to stay below 800%.

We just moved into this home and plan to add solar which will probably solve the issue, but that will take time because a panel upgrade is required.

Thanks for any input on dealing with PG&E. I searched and did not find an existing thread on this topic.

 

[miimura]

Sadly, the CSR is correct. It's clearly stated in the EV2 Tariff, so it's non-negotiable. The PUC won't care because they approved the tariff.

Installing solar is your best approach. Short of that, you could install a second meter and charge the car on the EV-B rate. However, that would also require a main panel replacement so the money is better spent on supporting solar instead of a second meter. I think it's criminal that the PUC has not forced PG&E to offer sub-metering with their own SmartMeter equipment. The EV sub-metering trials were too complicated considering how easy and cheap it would be to allow a meter to be installed next to your charging equipment.

 

[CarPortal]

Thanks for your input @miimura. It felt very much like this was going to be a dead end. I just hope I can avoid being converted from EV2-A to TOU.

I see now for the first time why EV-B exists and how it may be useful. It may actually be an option for me because we have to do a panel upgrade at the house anyway for solar and a generator by year-end. It might make sense to get the second meter and service installed at the same time. Also while my usage for the Model 3 will decline we have a Model Y on the way plus a Rivian, etc in 2022. There will soon be four drivers in the household. We'll be using a lot of power from the grid even with solar.

 

[Watts_Up]

Can't you charge at work during the day to lower your home consumption?

Or calculate how much excess you have and use a Supercharger to avoid overpassing your quota at home?

 

[cwerdna]

Besides what's already been suggested, are there any level 2 (J1772) or Destination Charging | Tesla or CHAdeMO chargers near work?

How about any CHAdeMO chargers along your route/where you often go? If those are cheaper than Supercharging or being pushed off EV2-A, you might consider buying the $450 CHAdeMO adapter, as long as the stations are known reliable/you can depend on them.

How many cents per kWh are the Superchargers you might be using? For instance, I know of a 19 cent/kWh CHAdeMO charger and Home Page - DRIVEtheARC offers CHAdeMO for discounts (off EVgo pricing) of 0, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%, depending on charger and time of day. There are two reservation stations (Lucky at Bernal in San Jose and Pacific Pearl in Pleasanton) that are free 24/7 as long as you make a reservation via their app. However, you'll need the $450 CHAdeMO Adapter.

 

[miimura]

Thanks for your input @miimura. It felt very much like this was going to be a dead end. I just hope I can avoid being converted from EV2-A to TOU.

I see now for the first time why EV-B exists and how it may be useful. It may actually be an option for me because we have to do a panel upgrade at the house anyway for solar and a generator by year-end. It might make sense to get the second meter and service installed at the same time. Also while my usage for the Model 3 will decline we have a Model Y on the way plus a Rivian, etc in 2022. There will soon be four drivers in the household. We'll be using a lot of power from the grid even with solar.

If you are going solar, I would probably not recommend the second meter because I've never seen any one use Net Meter Aggregation in that kind of setup. When you have two meters, you would either have to split the solar between the two meters or only have the solar earn credits on one meter. Net Meter Aggregation is a way to split solar production from one meter across multiple meters on the same or adjacent properties with the same responsible party. Anyway, the Off-Peak rates on EV2-A and EV-B are almost the same. EV-B is just under 15c/kWh and EV2-A is 16.7c/kWh. One reason you might want to do the second meter is if your available roof area is too small to install enough solar to offset your EV charging. If you're going to pay for the EV charging anyway, maybe the second meter on EV-B is the way to go.
Also, I would not spend money on a generator, I would put that money toward one or more Powerwalls. I had pre-wired and pre-plumbed my house for a nat-gas backup generator when I had the house built in 2012. I didn't install the generator at the time and I'm really happy with the Powerwalls I had installed in 2018. A generator is an endless expense while the Powerwalls will help you avoid paying Peak prices to PG&E and let you get the most from your solar system. Silent backup power is a great bonus.

 

[Merrill]

I went with a second meter for car charging, my problem was no more room for more solar and adding the EV charging on my main meter put me into a higher tier with very expensive kWh cost.

 

[Uncle Paul]

About how much per month do you expect this to increase your electric bill over your previous metering rate? Will help us to give you financially prudent advice..

 

[CarPortal]

After 18 months of trying to ration EV charging between our MY and M3 the day has finally come: Next bill cycle PG&E is moving us from EV2-A to E-TOU-D. I ran the numbers and our electricity bill will increase 25% to 40% depending on the time of year. Solar install is still several months off, probably not until March timeframe because a panel upgrade is required with trenching. I'm contemplating calling PG&E to cancel service and then having a friend or family member call to start new service with EV2-A again. Yes I know it's unethical, but this is a dumb rule. One could argue that this provision of the tariff is unethical and a deterrent to mass EV adoption. Even when our solar system is finally operational, I think we're barred from EV2-A for a full year as some sort of punishment for using too much electricity. Note that 80% of our usage is off-peak charging of the Tesla's. We don't even have AC in the house, all the lighting is LED, etc. Anyway it is what it is. Solar will help a lot and then a year from now we'll get back on EV2-A.

 

[Merrill]

That is the problem when you have a utility monopoly running California, when I install the Powerwalls they made me go to TOUC. They are not happy only making billions.

 

[CarPortal]

@Merrill if you're around it would be great to get your further input on this and input from anyone else with relevant knowledge. We now have solar, but we drive so much that we're headed towards exceeding 800% baseline usage again. We recently upgraded to a 400amp panel and I think I made a mistake by not requesting a second meter and EV2-B at that time.

We're adding AC to the house which never needed it in the past, so that's just going to make the situation worse. Plus we're planning to add a third EV which will add even more load.

Our solar system is maxed out at 16kW.

Would appreciate any thoughts on how to proceed as I begin to do further research on this topic.

 

[ucmndd]

You have a 16kw solar system and you’re still importing >2600kwh/mo from the grid? That’s a fantastic amount of energy, damn…

 

[Merrill]

@Merrill if you're around it would be great to get your further input on this and input from anyone else with relevant knowledge. We now have solar, but we drive so much that we're headed towards exceeding 800% baseline usage again. We recently upgraded to a 400amp panel and I think I made a mistake by not requesting a second meter and EV2-B at that time.

We're adding AC to the house which never needed it in the past, so that's just going to make the situation worse. Plus we're planning to add a third EV which will add even more load.

Our solar system is maxed out at 16kW.

Would appreciate any thoughts on how to proceed as I begin to do further research on this topic.

We have in the past had many PSPS events and since we are on a well we have no water. I was able to get the resilience incentive for my 2 powerwalls because of where I live. So I run the house on the powerwalls during the peak pricing which is 4pm to 9pm. The solar charges the powerwalls the next day and gets them to 100% by noon.

 

[CarPortal]

You have a 16kw solar system and you’re still importing >2600kwh/mo from the grid? That’s a fantastic amount of energy, damn…

5K sq ft house, pool pump, ~60K miles of EV driving/yr, very low winter production…it all adds up to pulling a lot of power. HVAC, hot water and cooking are on their way to being converted to electric. We are massively reducing our carbon footprint vs fossil fuels and we are being punished for it.

 

[CarPortal]

@Merrill unless I’m misunderstanding I don’t think batteries alone would solve my problem. Batteries would shift load, but not change our total consumption which is the problem. I cannot generate any more power (solar) so I need to figure out a regulatory hat trick using EV2-B I think?

Another option is that we’re probably adding a generator for backup. I wonder if it’s economical to purposely disconnect from the grid at times and rely on the generator? I’m trading off purchasing PG&E’s electricity for their natural gas.

In the short term I have a fix. We have 10K free supercharger miles and we’ll use them to decrease our total usage at home. However, this isn’t convenient and 10K miles miles won’t last long in our household.

Anyone have any creative ideas?

 

[Merrill]

@Merrill unless I’m misunderstanding I don’t think batteries alone would solve my problem. Batteries would shift load, but not change our total consumption which is the problem. I cannot generate any more power (solar) so I need to figure out a regulatory hat trick using EV2-B I think?

Another option is that we’re probably adding a generator for backup. I wonder if it’s economical to purposely disconnect from the grid at times and rely on the generator? I’m trading off purchasing PG&E’s electricity for their natural gas.

In the short term I have a fix. We have 10K free supercharger miles and we’ll use them to decrease our total usage at home. However, this isn’t convenient and 10K miles miles won’t last long in our household.

Anyone have any creative ideas?

Originally I installed the Tesla powerwalls to have power in a PSPS, but running the house off the powerwalls during peak energy costs save me quite a bit. I did not want a generator that used natural gas or propane in my area PG&E has continued to raise prices on both of those energy sources. I use the solar to recharge the powerwalls so my cost is minimal.

 

[ucmndd]

5K sq ft house, pool pump, ~60K miles of EV driving/yr, very low winter production…it all adds up to pulling a lot of power. HVAC, hot water and cooking are on their way to being converted to electric. We are massively reducing our carbon footprint vs fossil fuels and we are being punished for it.

I mean, attempting to “massively reduce” your astronomical top 0.001% of households carbon footprint is a commendable goal but I’m not sure I follow the being punished logic.

I really think your only way out of this given your current consumption habit is EV2-B and a separate meter for your cars.

 

[CarPortal]

@ucmndd 66%+ of our consumption is driven by charging the Tesla’s which is driven by necessity. Frankly my spouse and I hate driving at this point. Will look into EV2-B.

 

[ucmndd]

@ucmndd 66%+ of our consumption is driven by charging the Tesla’s which is driven by necessity. Frankly my spouse and I hate driving at this point. Will look into EV2-B.

Is there any scenario where either of you could charge at work? Hell, would a neighbor be amenable to you compensating them to charge a car on their meter?

 

[CarPortal]

Is there any scenario where either of you could charge at work? Hell, would a neighbor be amenable to you compensating them to charge a car on their meter?

Can’t charge at work or neighbors. EV2-B really is the way to go I think. I’m just feeling rather foolish for not having the foresight to have the second meter installed at the same time we did the panel/service upgrade as we may have saved a little bit of $$ and a lot of headache dealing with PG&E.