Screwed by Unwanted PG&E True-Up Period Reset

[Incredulocious]

I just got my PG&E statement for January 2019 and was surprised to find (after calling into PG&E) that my net energy metering (NEM) true-up period has been reset in such a way that I’m getting billed for the month of January separately from the rest of the coming year. My previous true-up period ended at the end of December. Unfortunately this means I won’t be able to offset my consumption in January ($350) against my excess production from later in the year. And of course my significant end-of-year credit for excess production over the last year was reduced to a $50 credit after true-up.

This NEM reset is apparently caused by my automatic enrollment in a local “Community Choice Aggregation” program whereby energy generation is now handled by a local community power group. (For me, that’s Monterey Bay Community Power.)

I’m told by PG&E that I have no recourse and they can make no adjustment to combine this month with the coming or prior year.

Just a heads up for others.

 

[Incredulocious]

Got some more info from an FAQ from PG&E:

I was enrolled in PG&E’s NEM program, but now receive my electric supply from a CCA. How will my credits be treated when I switch to a CCA for generation service?

A. PG&E performs a true-up at the time your energy supply service is changed from PG&E to your CCA. This is necessary because, going forward as a CCA customer, your energy supply services will be provided by the CCA and subject to its NEM rules for the generation component of your rate. From the time you switch to the CCA’s energy supply service, your NEM billing will be completed as follows:

For all charges on your tariff except generation charges, PG&E will continue to administer the NEM credits and charges as it does today. “Generation charges” are a portion of the Energy Charge, and are shown on your PG&E rate schedule: Pacific Gas & Electric - Tariffs

For the generation charges, PG&E will include charges and/or credits prepared by your CCA on your bill. For information about how your CCA will administer credits and charges for the generation charges on your bill, please contact your CCA.

And from my "local community power" group, Monterey Bay Community Power:

Does Monterey Bay Community Power have an annual true-up like PG&E?+
Yes. With Monterey Bay Community Power, customers will continue to have an annual true-up for both MBCP and PG&E charges. The true-up date will be the anniversary of their enrollment with MBCP, instead of the anniversary of their system interconnection. MBCP automatically enrolls solar customers close to their original true-up date in order to minimize disruption to customers.

This part is encouraging – may get more credit for my yearly solar net surplus:

Will MBCP’s rates be the same or better than PG&E’s for solar customers?+
Monterey Bay Community Power solar customers will save money compared to PG&E solar customers. If you are a net consumer of electricity, you will receive a rebate on your electric generation charges from MBCP, set at 3% for 2018. If you are an annual net generator of electricity, MBCP will compensate you at a significantly higher rate than PG&E.

How do MBCP’s policies change the financial incentives for having solar panels?+
The financial incentives for solar are largely unchanged with MBCP. As the electric delivery provider, PG&E still limits the size of solar systems to 110% of expected total usage. However, for solar customers that are also Net Generators, MBCP’s Net Surplus Compensation rate is significantly higher than PG&E’s. To find out the current NSC rate, please call us at 888-909-6227.

 

[miimura]

If you knew it was coming, you probably could have enrolled early with the CCA, causing an early true up. That is what I did when SVCE started up. I enrolled in their 100% renewable plan that has an extra $0.008/kWh charge. However, if you are a net generator, it also increases your reimbursement by that amount. The other "feature" of our CCA, SVCE, is that if you owe them money on any Blue PG&E bill, you have to pay it. That is another reason that I moved my true-up to the spring so I could accumulate some credit balance before winter came. In reality my solar is too small, so I will eventually owe them money anyway. If you have a Winter true-up, you will probably have to pay them monthly until your generation charges go negative. If you are annually net $0, they will just get to hold on to that money until you hit your next true-up. SVCE has a minimum refund amount of $200, IIRC. If your credit balance is less than that, they just let it ride into the next year. If it's larger they will cut you a check. You should check for similar policies with your CCA.