Been about 5 weeks since my latest update. Here's another one.
Took a while, but Tesla finally admitted that the reason they
WON'T file the certificate of completion for PTO (despite telling me....(checks notes) FOURTEEN times in the past 60 days that they
HAD filed my PTO request.
) until after they receive confirmation from the Illinois Adjustable Block Program is because the ABP approval means that Tesla will get paid for the offset they provided me against my production for the first 25 years.
So...two things here.
1) Hey, uh, Tesla...that ABP filing is you confirming the competence of your own work to the state bureaucrats. So, let me see if I've got this straight, you aren't confident in your own installation and paperwork supporting your installation to file my PTO concurrent with the ABP filing? I see.... My confidence in your work on my roof is skyrocketing by the second!
2) And, uh, I paid you in full for the work which you're now basically telling me you're concerned about not passing ABP inspection? Why did I pay you again? Why is it you won't file the PTO and ABP paperwork concurrently? Ah...yes...I understand now, the customer comes last in this scenario. If your paperwork isn't approved, that means Tesla doesn't get paid for the credits that they "bought" from me against my bill, and heaven forbid I should be using the product I've paid for and own while Tesla figures out the error of their ways.
So, we sit and wait for the ABP to finalize their review. And, amazingly, the paperwork passes inspection. So, I get Tesla into a chat, tell them to check the ABP site for confirmation, and get the PTO filed.
BTW...I've had good success with the chat function contrary to some of the posts here (I have to give credit when they do something right...or at least beneficial to me if I'm going to dust them for the rest of the crappy service). Unlike trying to call/text/e-mail one of the multiple project advisors assigned to me over the life of the project, the chat function always got me someone who acted pretty quickly on my behalf. I guess YMMV, but if I would have had the chat, I would have avoided some absolutely useless project advisors.
The chat agent confirms my proof of passing ABP (there is a public facing website where you can plug in the case number and get the current status, so there's no confusion about where we stand) and says they'll forward the request to submit PTO to interconnection department.
Naturally, I'm thinking, here we go again. Eventually they'll tell me for the literal 15th time that they've submitted my Certificate of Completion, only to find out that they haven't. But, to my amazement, I received an e-mail from ComEd (NOT Tesla
) the next day telling me that my project was in PTO review. They tell me 10 business days which I can do standing on my head at this point.
10 business days later, I call ComEd and say "What's up George?" (Like I said before, I'm on a first name basis with their Green Team people having called them....yes....no fewer than 15 times when Tesla was lying to me about having submitted my certificate of completion). Somehow, he sells me on the fact that the 10 business days that have clearly passed are actually 8 business days and they need 2 more. But, the next day...I get the magic e-mail from ComEd.
PTO APPROVED!
I get Tesla into a chat immediately and confirm from them that I can power up the panels (assuming, of course, that the switches haven't rusted in place due to disuse), and the agent checked the status of the project and confirmed I was good to go. So, finally, this saga is over for me. Powered up and generating electricity.
At the end of the day, my project was 72 WEEKS from order/deposit to PTO. While there were some truly tragic/comic things that took place ahead of installation, my favorite of which being the time I was "Next in Line" and my installation would start tomorrow, which meant crews arrived to drop off a dumpster/portajohn/and all the tiles, only to have nobody show up until the crew returned to pick up the dumpster/portajohn/tiles a couple of days later and then I was told that "Next in Line" meant that my installation would start 3 months later.
Unimaginably, though, the last 27 of those weeks were spent with a fully installed roof waiting for Tesla to file what was essentially a single piece of paper with Commonwealth Edison certifying the completion and satisfactory inspection of my installation. Of those 6+ months, ComEd took 12 days, and the ABP team took 17 days (after factoring out delays waiting for Tesla to pay for the submissions and correct documentation errors on their end). This would
suggest that Illinois PTO should take about a month, but incompetence/understaffing/apathy at Tesla as well as a complete disregard for their customers mean that in Illinois, this product is just not ready for market.
If you are an Illinois customer stuck in purgatory, file a case with the Illinois Commerce Commission. They took my filing seriously, followed through, and called me back several times to check on changes in status. The Attorney General filing did absolutely nothing.
Congrats to those of you who had better experiences, apologies to those of you that have had sagas longer than mine.
I would not for a minute advise anyone in Illinois to buy a solar roof from Tesla at this time.
GLTY.
) but I'm guessing that my lawyer will eventually have some success (or my threats will trickle down to my liaisons).
