Right now I only have 2. The utility one that needs to be replaced by the net meter and one right below it. I am not sure it serves any function except to allow them to put the unit that cuts power to the grid when the grid is down “under the meter”. Because of limited space they had to locate the shutdown and rapid shutdown and placeholder box with a sticker reading “photovoltaic system dedicated KWM METER” on it about 6 feet away and the powerwall+ a further 6 feet away. They said they will install that missing meter once they get it… but that the utility should still replace the meter and give PTO without it… I messaged Tesla and they just said to wait to see what the utility do…
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How long between inspection and PTO? [various areas]
- Thread starter niner93
- Start date
Right now I only have 2. The utility one that needs to be replaced by the net meter and one right below it. I am not sure it serves any function except to allow them to put the unit that cuts power to the grid when the grid is down “under the meter”. Because of limited space they had to locate the shutdown and rapid shutdown and placeholder box with a sticker reading “photovoltaic system dedicated KWM METER” on it about 6 feet away and the powerwall+ a further 6 feet away. They said they will install that missing meter once they get it… but that the utility should still replace the meter and give PTO without it… I messaged Tesla and they just said to wait to see what the utility do…
3 meter setup here in RI. Tesla was paid in full 83 days ago. I gave them another email nudge this morning. I fully expect them to say, we have the 90 days according to contract, which I fully expect them not to meet. It's hard to believe it's first in first out for this PTO process, but that's the line I get each time I contact them.
I called Eversource this morning, they advised that are waiting for Tesla to confirm that a "production socket has been installed".
I reviewed my plans and it shows a meter between the AC disconnect and energy storage, this is not present in real life.
On chat Tesla advised that "It is complete as the scope of work for the actual project has been completed". - So in my opinion Tesla have requested and now received my payment when the project is not complete.
I pointed out this from my contract: "IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR A CONTRACTOR TO COLLECT PAYMENT FOR WORK NOT YET COMPLETED, OR FOR MATERIALS NOT YET DELIVERED. HOWEVER, A CONTRACTOR MAY REQUIRE A DOWNPAYMENT. "
But the advisor still said it complete because inspection is passed. And yes he also threw out the "The estimated date for obtaining permission to operate is 90 days from installation and we are well within that time frame."
He advised there is no way to escalate at Tesla, so have sent an email to the projectadvisor and businesslicenses email requesting confirmation the project is not complete. It is on the plans and Eversouce have said they won't install a net meter without it so not really sure how they can claim its complete.
If they won’t acknowledge that/advise when they will install I will file a claim against their CT HIC license so I get it on the record.
I reviewed my plans and it shows a meter between the AC disconnect and energy storage, this is not present in real life.
On chat Tesla advised that "It is complete as the scope of work for the actual project has been completed". - So in my opinion Tesla have requested and now received my payment when the project is not complete.
I pointed out this from my contract: "IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR A CONTRACTOR TO COLLECT PAYMENT FOR WORK NOT YET COMPLETED, OR FOR MATERIALS NOT YET DELIVERED. HOWEVER, A CONTRACTOR MAY REQUIRE A DOWNPAYMENT. "
But the advisor still said it complete because inspection is passed. And yes he also threw out the "The estimated date for obtaining permission to operate is 90 days from installation and we are well within that time frame."
He advised there is no way to escalate at Tesla, so have sent an email to the projectadvisor and businesslicenses email requesting confirmation the project is not complete. It is on the plans and Eversouce have said they won't install a net meter without it so not really sure how they can claim its complete.
If they won’t acknowledge that/advise when they will install I will file a claim against their CT HIC license so I get it on the record.
If Eversource rejects installing a meter and providing you PTO, Tesla should send the original installation team lead or supervisor to come on site and check out what is going on. The two times that I had Tesla solar installed, the local teams were very proactive. The first time, they made sure to be there in person during utility inspection. The second time, they made sure to be there during the city inspection in person. They seemed to know which inspection might get challenging and so they sent over someone to fix the issues as soon as they were identified. Fortunately, almost all identified issues could be fixed immediately. The only inspection issue I had for which the Tesla guy had to come back the next day was that some of the labels on the installed boxes did not match the labels in the design document. So, he had to come back the next day with new labels.
Tesla inspector was there to put the labels on during the town inspection which passed without issue. I was there when the power company came out, Tesla was not.
The install guys told me that the meyer socket / meter needed to be added later but that it should be fine for PTO without.
The issue I have is that the chat support won’t acknowledge there is an issue, they state it’s complete because it has passed the local inspection despite a meter socket / meter shown on the plans not being present in real life. I sent an email to all the addresses I had / could find yesterday giving until close of business to aknowledge it’s incomplete and they responded to say they would escalate it with operations. I have held off filing the complaint with the state on the HIC lisence until Monday close of business to see if they can resolve it before then.
The local Tesla install team and inspector were both great, the issue is online chat / lack of ability to phone / email with real people.
RKCRLR
Active Member
I finally got PTO for my 3rd Powerwall on October 19th (PG&E kept rejecting the application and Tesla had to resubmit multiple times). So it took me over 4 months to get PTO.
After the 90 days from Final Payment, I went and did another follow-up with Tesla Support. This time, I went to the support page in my Tesla account and select "schedule phone call". This was Monday 10/17 and I had the call scheduled for Tuesday 10/18. About 30 minutes prior to the call, I received a text saying they were about to call me. I explained the situation, as above in this thread, so won't repeat it. I was surprised as to how quickly there was interest in closing out my project and submitting to the utility. The call resulted in Tesla wanting to look deeper at my project, so the advisor said they would call me back in a few minutes. He called back about 10 minutes later, just to say, he needs to keep looking. Later that day I received a text about the "inspection documents were never uploaded and they will be today and the PTO should be submitted to the utility, tomorrow". Early the following day, I received an update that they needed additional photos and a signed Certificate of Completion, which they were looking to happen that day or the next. The photos and Certificate of Complete come from the local inspector and up until this point, Tesla never requested them from my town inspector (someone dropped the ball there). Since I haven't received an update since last Thursday, I did a follow-up text this morning and was told that they received all the documents from the inspector and their interconnection team can now submit for final application; and will get as many eyes on this as possible so the application is submitted quickly.
This is where I now stand. I feel that if Tesla took my earlier inquiries more seriously, and not waited past the 90-day "contract" time, they would have realized they didn't have everything in order to submit for PTO. I kept getting the "you'll receive updates in your Tesla account", and it's "first in, first out with the interconnection team". All someone needed to do was take the time to look. I do feel things will move along faster now, since the utility, once they receive the paperwork, move pretty quickly; usually a couple of days, then pop on the netmeter.
This is where I now stand. I feel that if Tesla took my earlier inquiries more seriously, and not waited past the 90-day "contract" time, they would have realized they didn't have everything in order to submit for PTO. I kept getting the "you'll receive updates in your Tesla account", and it's "first in, first out with the interconnection team". All someone needed to do was take the time to look. I do feel things will move along faster now, since the utility, once they receive the paperwork, move pretty quickly; usually a couple of days, then pop on the netmeter.
Here we are with a status of "Pending Utility removing change review box". It's been this status since 11/9. I asked if they ever "follow up" with the utility to see what's going on and nothing but crickets as a response. At this point, Tesla will just wash their hands and say..."we're waiting on utility", and forget about it. Sometimes you do need to follow up, otherwise the work will never get done. I'm now at 127 days since "final payment"
Wow, I had my inspection for my new batteries last week, and go my PTO today from PGE.
So cool, I have approved 30kw of solar, and 7 powerwall batteries. Okay, I am DONE spending on this dumb stuff. I just need an EV or PHEV car now to use all this free energy I am giving PGE. TIme for another new true up bill and date, hopefully the last time not a 12 month cycle.
So cool, I have approved 30kw of solar, and 7 powerwall batteries. Okay, I am DONE spending on this dumb stuff. I just need an EV or PHEV car now to use all this free energy I am giving PGE. TIme for another new true up bill and date, hopefully the last time not a 12 month cycle.
Congrats! I just got my SGIP check finally. That was really really difficult!
Now I am trying to get another 6.5 kW installed before NEM 3.0 hits.
Wow. What a long strange trip that has been!
Are we taking bets on if the gateways will now give you the grid charging and or export everything options? Not that it matters much for you, but it was seeming pretty random early on when those features were launched.
SW
I have not looked today, but my gateways had grid charging, and one had export everything. Will look to see what it has now.
Did your latest PTO cover your entire system, or are the PWs treated a separate systems, each with it's own Permission To Operate?
A related question is how long does it take from PTO to getting the detailed, "black and white" bill.
I ask these because we add some solar this year. A month after issuing our PTO, PG&E "rescinded" it only to grant PTO again the next month. We received bills from PG&E for our gas, but since may there has been no electric or B&W bill. They tell me it may take up to 4 months after PTO, which seems bizarre. Does this story sound familiar?
SW
Was just for the 2 new powerwalls.
Talking to PGE, their sw got messed up and I was told some folks are taking up to 7 months to get true ups fixed. My last one was like 4 months, and had nothing to do with a PTO. I expect this new true up will take many many months, but When I get caught up, I got 4 B&W bills in the mail in one day. The normal bill was single with 4 months of data on it
My documents from Tesla were finally uploaded on 11/28. On 12/5 the utility set the project to "on hold" due to incorrect meter number of all things. I then sent Tesla, via text, the meter number and the next day they asked for a photo of my meter. My project is back in status of "final documents submitted". Potentially, this can take 7 more weeks to complete. At this point, doesn't really matter since it's winter and the days are to short to export any excess to the grid.
PG&E finnally got around to my B&W bills. 7 months worth showed up in my account online, hard copy no doubt will come, perhaps for Christmas...
We added some panels this year and started doing Export Everything to help us cover our EV charging, but it meant we would loose NEM1 grandfathering and switch to NEM2. PT0 was issued in early June, shortly after our old May true up. With the change to NEM2, the car charging and new PowerWall export features, I was anxious to see the new detailed billing. But then in July our PTO was reminded, ouch, due to some confusion about our new microinverters and rule 21 compliance. In August PTO was issued again. But no B&W bills came, and no electirc charges at all on the Jul bill. Nor Aug, Sep, Oct or Nov. I was worried that PG&E had changed it's mind yet again about our PTO.
Dave, you're post gave me hope that the delay was SOP for PG&E, and it was only a few days before they finally came through. I haven't gone through them yet, but I can now relax about the new panels and start tracking our true-up liability. My projections said it would be minimal, but I want to check against the reality...
Yep, it takes them time. Who knows how long my latest true up will take with the new batteries.
Look forward to seeing your analysis. My biggest fear is they put a solar tax in NEM3, and make all NEM2 and 1 folks start paying it in April 2023
Inspection to PTO approval only took 5 calendar days (!!) in the San Francisco Bay Area (Northern California) with PG&E.
My inspection took place on Friday (12/2), PTO docs signed over the weekend, and I received PTO approval notification from PG&E on Wednesday (12/7). This timeline was surprisingly quick, and I was expecting to wait weeks, if not months.
Granted, my project had dragged on for 18+ months, so this was s silver lining that PTO moved super quickly.
My inspection took place on Friday (12/2), PTO docs signed over the weekend, and I received PTO approval notification from PG&E on Wednesday (12/7). This timeline was surprisingly quick, and I was expecting to wait weeks, if not months.
Granted, my project had dragged on for 18+ months, so this was s silver lining that PTO moved super quickly.
