I finally have a statement from PG&E with the entire month on PCE. The short story is that they've figured things very closely, and the Indifference Charge takes care of any savings from PCE's lower rates. Read on if you're interested in the gory details, or if doing your taxes hasn't supplied enough boredom and confusion to satisfy your needs.
Overall the statement is even more confusing than usual, at least to me. On page 1 it looks easy enough:
- PG&E delivery charges: 150
- PCE generation charges: 37
- total: 187
I'm reporting whole dollars because I'm lazy. I'm also skipping any year-on-year comparison: they aren't comparable, because I wasn't on the EV rate and I wasn't charging at home.
On page 2 PG&E breaks down that 150 into transmission, distribution, and all those oddball fees. One of these is an indifference charge (PCIA) of 37, matching up neatly with the PCE generation charges. Apparently PG&E gets a 50% margin on generation whether they charge me for generation or not.
On page 3 they break down that same 150 by peak, partial peak, and off-peak. This is complicated by a rate change, so the first day of the cycle was broken out at one rate schedule and the rest at another. The math looks much different here, but the result is the same. It's calculated as if I were not a PCE customer, using ordinary EV rates. Then they apply a generation credit, about 75. Then they add on that indifference charge.
This math seems especially strange to me because the TOU rates are quoted as if peak rates also affect transmission and distribution charges. In fact I think they don't, and the generation credit is honest — but the presentation doesn't help. It's probably best to simply ignore this page.
On the next page PCE steps in and provides a breakdown of generation fees by peak, part, and off-peak. I also see two rates here, but the change seems to be mid-cycle rather than the first day of the cycle. As I understand it PCE adjusted their rates down to match an increase by PG&E, so that PCE customers wouldn't end up paying more. This was mentioned in the
February CEO Report. Anyway the total is 37, same as page 1. As usual my consumption is about 80% off-peak, and I figure at least 50% of that is probably for EV charging.
The bottom line is that I don't seem to be saving by switching to PCE. However they tell me I'm getting 50% renewable power. Also the situation may be different for solar customers:
PCE offers a penny over retail for solar kWh, along with monthly rollover and annual true-up.