I would just call the PG&E Solar Customer Service (877-743-4112), when prompted just select new or existing solar customer. Call was usually picked up fairly quickly the few times that I had to call before. They would ask for the reference number, if PTO application was submitted by Tesla you would have it in emails from Tesla, if you don't know or don't have it then just say you don't have it and give them your PG&E account number. They can only inform you of status, though every time I called they'd been helpful they never suggested that they could fast track the application, usually the hold up is on Tesla side. My impression is that PG&E will approve it within 5 business days if everything is in order, of course, some people found that not to be true.
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I would just call the PG&E Solar Customer Service (877-743-4112), when prompted just select new or existing solar customer. Call was usually picked up fairly quickly the few times that I had to call before. They would ask for the reference number, if PTO application was submitted by Tesla you would have it in emails from Tesla, if you don't know or don't have it then just say you don't have it and give them your PG&E account number. They can only inform you of status, though every time I called they'd been helpful they never suggested that they could fast track the application, usually the hold up is on Tesla side. My impression is that PG&E will approve it within 5 business days if everything is in order, of course, some people found that not to be true.
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
Exactly. You would have to take over (sort of submit on your own) a PTO in place of Tesla's. You cannot get access to what Tesla submitted but they can tell you via the phone what the status is.
It would be nicer if the account holder had some sort of access to this stuff but they don't. But at least the phone people will recognize you as the account owner and tell you what's up.
They even gave me instructions on how to provide more info/clarification independently of Tesla so keep that in mind too if needed.
just to follow up, i called PGE and they tell me that the interconnection request paperwork was kicked back to tesla 2 days after it was submitted - this is in late march. PGE couldn't really say what was wrong other than perhaps my original NEM1 interconnection paperwork was dated too far in the past vs. when the actual request was made by tesla on their portal - almost 12 months had elapsed between the two dates and the original paperwork was signed in 2019, so the two events spanned a calendar year. PGE are asking for something called an "audit page" for the customer signature, however, they don't say what document they are actually talking about.
i called tesla and they said that PGE changed their automation and apparently a lot of rejected requests fell thru the cracks there. actually based on what i know of tesla, it wouldn't take any kind of computer problem for something like this to happen, but OK. anyway the guy (who is like my 4th project advisor) said that the interconnection team is still working thru their backlog and he thought they'd come back around to mine in a few weeks...
the PGE person did not offer me the opportunity to cure this problem myself, so... i guess i have to wait for tesla.
so this is just about what i expected. oh well.
i called tesla and they said that PGE changed their automation and apparently a lot of rejected requests fell thru the cracks there. actually based on what i know of tesla, it wouldn't take any kind of computer problem for something like this to happen, but OK. anyway the guy (who is like my 4th project advisor) said that the interconnection team is still working thru their backlog and he thought they'd come back around to mine in a few weeks...
the PGE person did not offer me the opportunity to cure this problem myself, so... i guess i have to wait for tesla.
so this is just about what i expected. oh well.
The problem if you "cure" this yourself is that then you'll have to pay the NEM interconnection fee. By default the contractor doing the install is supposed to collect $ to be used for this interconnection fee. If you somehow PTO'd yourself, you'd have to pay that fee again directly to PG&E, then somehow collect the funds back from Tesla.
i guess what i was referring to was the below - cure in the sense that i was not given the opportunity to provide the info that tesla is supposed to provide.
but anyway that's good to know, i certainly will never recover the NEM interconnection fee from tesla and since i'm sure that's rolled into the price, i would have paid it twice rather than just paid once un-necessarily.
interesting - i called tesla to ask them to lower the “grid down / battery full” frequency to ~62Hz and they told me because there was no PTO they couldn’t make the change. i called my advisor back and got shunted to another person. i explained the situation and the guy claimed he would escalate the problem to his manager and it should be taken care of in a week. not holding my breath but this is the first time they said they would do anything about the paperwork resubmission.
and to close my stupid story at least, yesterday i received PTO for the system. the email from PGE reads like it is a PTO for a PV solar plant but i guess that's just how it is. obviously i already had PTO for the solar and in fact multiple tesla contacts told me to just go ahead and turn on the PWs on the day they were installed.
the timeline here was:
mid-oct 2019: order and $100 deposit
mid-nov 2019: "we are now ready to schedule your installation"
scheduled for dec 2019
bumped to mid-feb 2020
requested redesign early feb 2020
main panel upgrade scheduled for 9 april 2020
main panel upgrade pushed back to 23 july 2020
powerwall installation 4 nov 2020
fire and city inspections complete by early march 2021
paid in full mid-march 2021
PTO request filed by tesla late march 2021
PGE rejects paperwork 2 days later
tesla sits on the rejection
14 june 2021 called, tesla says "2 weeks"
22 june 2021 called, tesla said they'd escalate and resubmit for PTO
29 june 2021 PTO granted by PGE
very painful but partially self-inflicted with the redesign and of course covid messed everything up for a good while.
tesla themselves don't show PTO having been granted on my account page, so i guess they still would not change my 'battery full' frequency. i'll wait another week before calling them on that one.
the timeline here was:
mid-oct 2019: order and $100 deposit
mid-nov 2019: "we are now ready to schedule your installation"
scheduled for dec 2019
bumped to mid-feb 2020
requested redesign early feb 2020
main panel upgrade scheduled for 9 april 2020
main panel upgrade pushed back to 23 july 2020
powerwall installation 4 nov 2020
fire and city inspections complete by early march 2021
paid in full mid-march 2021
PTO request filed by tesla late march 2021
PGE rejects paperwork 2 days later
tesla sits on the rejection
14 june 2021 called, tesla says "2 weeks"
22 june 2021 called, tesla said they'd escalate and resubmit for PTO
29 june 2021 PTO granted by PGE
very painful but partially self-inflicted with the redesign and of course covid messed everything up for a good while.
tesla themselves don't show PTO having been granted on my account page, so i guess they still would not change my 'battery full' frequency. i'll wait another week before calling them on that one.
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
FWIW I got my PTO on 4/26. It took Tesla until 6/9 to discover they never told me to turn on my system and update the account page. So I would not worry about it.
If you have an issue and someone will not deal with you because you don't have the PTO, just state that you do and offer to send them a copy. I am sure that will remove that barrier.
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
Well the Tesla person who contacted me did apologize and said it was a mistake and was caught in a review.
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