PG&E Rate Schedules: "Home Charging" (EV2-A) Goes Live vs. Others

[goldengate]

Thanks... yes I did read the rate schedules and appreciated the fact they have dedicated customer service people who really know what they are talking about... who give your their cell numbers and respond personally via email. It's night and day difference from PG&E... if I were on EVA2 during this heat wave I would be buying electricity at 48 cents but right now I'm buying it at half that. So far I'm loving being back on E-1 but I still miss the original EVA rate.

 

[xceler8tion]

I'm getting solar installed. 6.6 kwh system and no powerwall. The solar installers recommended etou-d rate vs EV2-A since we get more cents per kw off peak when we generate during the day. Any thoughts on that? We have a model S and Bolt that we plan to charge. Not driving much since covid.

 

[miimura]

I'm getting solar installed. 6.6 kwh system and no powerwall. The solar installers recommended etou-d rate vs EV2-A since we get more cents per kw off peak when we generate during the day. Any thoughts on that? We have a model S and Bolt that we plan to charge. Not driving much since covid.

Their argument has merit. However, it depends on how much solar is offsetting your total usage. Maybe today with low mileage you could come out ahead with the higher price TOU-D solar credits. However, when you start driving more, you're paying more to charge too.

Absent EV charging and Powerwalls, a smaller difference between Peak and Off-Peak is better, especially if you have significant A/C use.

Without your historical SmartMeter data for a whole year and an hourly forecast of solar production for a whole year, you can't know for sure.

 

[ucmndd]

Their argument has merit. However, it depends on how much solar is offsetting your total usage. Maybe today with low mileage you could come out ahead with the higher price TOU-D solar credits. However, when you start driving more, you're paying more to charge too.

Absent EV charging and Powerwalls, a smaller difference between Peak and Off-Peak is better, especially if you have significant A/C use.

Without your historical SmartMeter data for a whole year and an hourly forecast of solar production for a whole year, you can't know for sure.

Agree, there’s a break even point that you’re not likely to hit if you’re not driving much (and thus not reaping the benefit of significant usage during the lower off-peak cost of EV2-A).

Watch your usage and consider a switch when your driving increases again.

 

[goldengate]

And if you air condition from 4-9 pm, EVA2 will kill you without a powerwall... almost 50 cents per kWh.

 

[ChrisJ]

And if you air condition from 4-9 pm, EVA2 will kill you without a powerwall... almost 50 cents per kWh.

Even with a powerwall it may kill you. An AC unit will quickly drain a powerwall or take it down to your reserve/backup level. Ours averages 6kw and during the recent fires/heatwave we were reluctant to set the reserve too low in case the power went out and we'd need it.

 

[shs1]

If you need AC and are on EV2-A, then pre-cooling is a viable strategy where you set your thermostats to cool, e.g. 2° F below your desired temperature in the morning and early afternoon and then 4° F above your desired temperature starting at 3 PM and midnight. And hopefully in the evening it will be cooler outdoors than indoors and you can use fans to bring in cool air during the evening and night so that the house is nice and cool for sleeping and the house starts cool the next morning. Since I started using this idea I have been 99 or 100% self powered during peak and partial peak times with two PW2s.

 

[miimura]

If you need AC and are on EV2-A, then pre-cooling is a viable strategy where you set your thermostats to cool, e.g. 2° F below your desired temperature in the morning and early afternoon and then 4° F above your desired temperature starting at 3 PM and midnight. And hopefully in the evening it will be cooler outdoors than indoors and you can use fans to bring in cool air during the evening and night so that the house is nice and cool for sleeping and the house starts cool the next morning. Since I started using this idea I have been 99 or 100% self powered during peak and partial peak times with two PW2s.

Recent smoky air prevented me from doing my normal overnight cool-down with outside air. That caused me to use a LOT more off-peak power because I had to run A/C to cool the house in the morning.

 

[ohmman]

Recent smoky air prevented me from doing my normal overnight cool-down with outside air. That caused me to use a LOT more off-peak power because I had to run A/C to cool the house in the morning.

Likewise. It really threw off my consumption. Even recent days, where it has been relatively clear in the evenings, I have to close the windows overnight because smoke settles in. I'm used to waking up to a house in the 60s.. when you start in the 70s it doesn't take long before the A/C is needed.

 

[aesculus]

Light weights. In the Sierra foothills we had some overnight lows in the mid 80's. And with smoke and heat solar production was sometimes 60% of normal.

My bill is going to be huge for August, even with our two major power outages.

 

[miimura]

Light weights. In the Sierra foothills we had some overnight lows in the mid 80's. And with smoke and heat solar production was sometimes 60% of normal.

My bill is going to be huge for August, even with our two major power outages.

If you had significant outages, check your Green Button Data. Someone pointed out to me that PG&E "estimates" usage when the data is missing, even when the missing data is due to an outage during which they could not have delivered any power. I just verified that this happened to me during my one hour outage on August 14th. The grand total over-billed ~$0.58. If over $1, I would ask for a refund.

 

[aesculus]

If you had significant outages, check your Green Button Data. Someone pointed out to me that PG&E "estimates" usage when the data is missing, even when the missing data is due to an outage during which they could not have delivered any power. I just verified that this happened to me during my one hour outage on August 14th. The grand total over-billed ~$0.58. If over $1, I would ask for a refund.

I see these estimated days and yes, they are during the power outages.

I guess I will have to keep track of these to make sure they wipe the estimates out.

The first outage estimates were pretty small but the second days were over 9 kWh of peak.

 

[miimura]

I see these estimated days and yes, they are during the power outages.

I guess I will have to keep track of these to make sure they wipe the estimates out.

The first outage estimates were pretty small but the second days were over 9 kWh of peak.

Definitely check the billed totals to the Green Button data totals. If they billed for 9kWh of "estimated" Peak power on one of the EV schedules, I would definitely ask for a refund and file a complaint with the CPUC.

 

[Rjan22]

Look at how PGE treat people with solar, instead of deducting the kw we produce to the kw we use, they convert the kw consumption and charge you for it on their price at 43¢ on peak and 36¢ off peak, then convert the one you produce in kwh at 0.086¢ then deduct it to the 43¢ and 36¢ they charged you per kwh. Can anyone correct me if my understanding is right or wrong? See attached photo.

 

[miimura]

Look at how PGE treat people with solar, instead of deducting the kw we produce to the kw we use, they convert the kw consumption and charge you for it on their price at 43¢ on peak and 36¢ off peak, then convert the one you produce in kwh at 0.086¢ then deduct it to the 43¢ and 36¢ they charged you per kwh. Can anyone correct me if my understanding is right or wrong? See attached photo.

No, that's not what they're doing. You have TOU, NEM 2.0 with NBCs, and a CCA. The Generation Credit is to remove the PG&E Generation charge from their billing and the CCA will bill you for their Generation Charge on the next page.

Your solar generation reduced your net usage. If any period had generation in excess of your consumption, the kWh for that period would be negative and credited at the retail rate.

 

[miimura]

Here is an example of one of my similar bills from 2018. This is the EV-A TOU on NEM 1.0 (no NBCs) and a CCA. Notice the negative Peak kWh. This bill was actually reversed because at the time I had Powerwalls but it was going through the regular solar billing system.

Here is another one from 2017 before the CCA.

 

[Rjan22]

No, that's not what they're doing. You have TOU, NEM 2.0 with NBCs, and a CCA. The Generation Credit is to remove the PG&E Generation charge from their billing and the CCA will bill you for their Generation Charge on the next page.

Your solar generation reduced your net usage. If any period had generation in excess of your consumption, the kWh for that period would be negative and credited at the retail rate.

So you you mean if I'd I had excess 300kwh generation last month from my solar and this current month I use more than I produced in excess of 400kwh, so I will only owe them 100kwh?

 

[miimura]

So you you mean if I'd I had excess 300kwh generation last month from my solar and this current month I use more than I produced in excess of 400kwh, so I will only owe them 100kwh?

No, each month the kWh is converted to dollars. Those dollars are added to your true-up. In an ideal case, you would have negative dollars in summer months and use up that credit during Winter months. Your example is not taking the TOU periods into account.

 

[Rjan22]

No, each month the kWh is converted to dollars. Those dollars are added to your true-up. In an ideal case, you would have negative dollars in summer months and use up that credit during Winter months. Your example is not taking the TOU periods into account.

Ok I get it now, even thought that's not fair, what can we do right. In your opinion which is the best now, E TOU A or EV2-A?

 

[ChrisJ]

The only caveat is if you're signed up for a 3rd party energy provider (Generator) instead of PG&E e.g. Marin Clean Energy (MCE), then some of them will charge you monthly for energy (or credit the account for solar). And PG&E will still keep a running total for their charges that are due/tallied up at true-up.