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Silicon Valley Clean Energy CCA (Santa Clara County)

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My first bill on Silicon Valley Clean Energy has been posted. Here are the relevant pages.

PGE Bill 2017-08 p6.jpg


PGE Bill 2017-08 p7.jpg


So, some explanation is necessary because it took me a little while to figure out how the billing works.

1. The first page is PG&E charges. They calculate the full tariff price and then subtract the generation portion.
2. They add the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment
3. It looks like the Franchise Fee is only for CCA's since it's not on my previous bills.
4. The second page is SVCE charges. They add a premium for GreenPrime and then calculate their generation charges according to their tariff. Credits balances roll forward to true-up but if your accumulated SVCE total is positive, you will have to pay that month to zero it out.

Here is the calculation for PG&E's Generation Credit and my estimation of the difference on this bill for basic PG&E vs. SVCE GreenPrime.

PGE vs SVCE 2017-08.jpg


So, I estimate that this bill is $2.32 higher than the regular PG&E charges, but it's 100% renewable. If you just let your account roll into SVCE, then you don't have to pay the GreenPrime premium. This bill would be about $0.07 less than PG&E without GreenPrime.
 
Miimura, thanks for sharing that billing info. I just received my first bill a couple days ago. It took me a while to parse through it and figure out what was going on. The one line item that jumped out to me was the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment which you have flagged in your analysis. For me, it was more than $16. Is there a sunset on this charge or are we stuck paying this to PG&E For eternity?
 
Miimura, thanks for sharing that billing info. I just received my first bill a couple days ago. It took me a while to parse through it and figure out what was going on. The one line item that jumped out to me was the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment which you have flagged in your analysis. For me, it was more than $16. Is there a sunset on this charge or are we stuck paying this to PG&E For eternity?
I really don't feel good about the PCIA. It looks to me like another excuse for PG&E to keep making money for doing nothing. However, there is likely some real expense contributing to the need for this fee. After the power crisis some years back PG&E had to make long term contracts to buy power so that the prices would be more stable. As CCA's source their own renewable power to meet the demands of their customers, somebody has to pay for these long term fossil fueled contracts. I heard that the IOUs (PGE, SCE, SDGE) are working on a new name and a new calculation for this charge. I hope that there is some real pressure from ratepayer advocates at the CPUC hearings to make this charge reasonable and eventually sunset them altogether. However, there is no guarantee that a sunset will ever come for this fee.
 
There was a story in the Los Altos Town Crier, our local print newspaper, about SVCE. Here are some highlights:
...a small minority of customers opted out of SVCE completely and remained with PG&E, which derives 33 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. "The overwhelming reason for their opting out is simply because they were put in the program automatically". But according to Pamela Leonard, community outreach manager for the City of Los Altos, SVCE "had customers re-enroll after learning more about SVCE and our benefits."
Only 2.02% of customers (5,013 of 248,000 accounts) have opted out. SVCE budgeted for opt-outs "in the double digits" so the overall opt-out rate came as a pleasant surprise.
 
That chart is confusing to me, and perhaps purposefully so. One column has the unbundled generation rates effective April 1, 2017. The next column has the bundled rate effective March 1, 2018. Then another column has the PGE rates also effective March 1, 2018. But I don't see an apples to apples comparison in order to show the amount of the price increases that became effective March 1, 2018. Am I missing it somewhere?

Bottom line, how much are the all-in, total rates (meaning what we see on our PG&E bill for NEM) under the EV-A plan changing, and where can we find a break-down by time of use period in both Winter and Summer?
 
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That chart is confusing to me, and perhaps purposefully so. One column has the unbundled generation rates effective April 1, 2017. The next column has the bundled rate effective March 1, 2018. Then another column has the PGE rates also effective March 1, 2018. But I don't see an apples to apples comparison in order to show the amount of the price increases that became effective March 1, 2018. Am I missing it somewhere?

Bottom line, how much are the all-in, total rates (meaning what we see on our PG&E bill for NEM) under the EV-A plan changing, and where can we find a break-down by time of use period in both Winter and Summer?
The Silicon Valley Clean Energy table is done that way because that is the part they bill you for - Generation. The key takeaway is that SVCE is either the same as PG&E or cheaper by about 1/2 a penny per kWh on Schedule EV, depending on which TOU period. Some other rate schedules have discounts up to 2 cents/kWh in some TOU periods. What you're really comparing is the two green columns because PG&E tacks on extra fees for CCA customers, like a breakup fee. The middle column includes those fees.

The rest of the PG&E rates, as found in the Unbundled Rates section of their tariff is the same for CCA and regular PG&E customers.

This is the Unbundled Rates table for the EV-A rates, updated 3/1/2018.
PG&E EV-A 180301 Unbundled.jpg


This is the Total Rates table for EV-A, updated 3/1/2018
PG&E EV-A 180301 Total.jpg
 
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Got it, thanks. I'm aware that it basically makes virtually no difference whether we switched over to SCVE or opted out of the transition to stay with PG&E, I mainly just wanted to know the overall cost increases and what you just provided shows that clearly.

If SCVE/PG&E wants to keep raising my peak summer rates, no major complaints from me. That's why I installed my solar system and got it operational under NEM 1.0. Although the increase on the off-peak as a percentage would appear to be far in excess of the rate of inflation since we were at 0.10 per kWh only what, 3-4 years ago, and it seems to have gone up by a penny, just about 10%, every year or so since then.
 
The Silicon Valley Clean Energy table is done that way because that is the part they bill you for - Generation. The key takeaway is that SVCE is either the same as PG&E or cheaper by about 1/2 a penny per kWh on Schedule EV, depending on which TOU period. Some other rate schedules have discounts up to 2 cents/kWh in some TOU periods. What you're really comparing is the two green columns because PG&E tacks on extra fees for CCA customers, like a breakup fee. The middle column includes those fees.

The rest of the PG&E rates, as found in the Unbundled Rates section of their tariff is the same for CCA and regular PG&E customers.

This is the Unbundled Rates table for the EV-A rates, updated 3/1/2018.
View attachment 286549

This is the Total Rates table for EV-A, updated 3/1/2018
View attachment 286550

Great information - thanks for sharing. Do you have the E-6 rate schedule for comparison...I am now on SVCE in Los Altos.

Update - I found the rates in your link - I assume all other charges for transmission, etc. are the same.

upload_2018-3-15_0-44-47.png
 
For reference, here is the EV-A Total Rate table from when the EV-A rate was started in August, 2013. This gives you an idea about PG&E rate increases in the last 5 years.

View attachment 286562

Yep, looks like my memory was spot on (for a change). These rate increases are much greater than the rate of inflation, and with PGE facing enormous potential exposure from the wildfires in the Fall, they aren't likely to stabilize any time soon.
 
Great information - thanks for sharing. Do you have the E-6 rate schedule for comparison...I am now on SVCE in Los Altos..

Everyone once in a while I like to download the E-6 rate schedule, just because I have nothing better to do... comparing the E-6 schedule in effect from a year ago with the new one in effect starting this month, looks like total rates went up between 1 to 2 cents/kwh for each period. Biggest increases generally towards off-peak and winter, smaller increases towards summer baseline part-peak and peak. A think a general trend towards flattening the TOU and tiers over time (Tier 3 and 4 completely disappeared a few years ago). Basically making the NEMS arbitrage for solar customers less and less advantageous, and then big phase-out of E-6 coming starting in 2021.

I guess I'm one of the 2% that opted out of the CCA. I knew the overall rate schedules end up being about the same, but I'm grandfathered on solar NEMS 1.0 for 15 more years, grandfathered on E-6 for 5 more years, and have a medical baseline as well, so I just didn't know if any of those would be disqualified by making the switch. PG&E has a running rate plan comparison on their site using your actual usage, so I know E-6 is by far the cheapest plan for me with solar and EV. EV-A is a distant 2nd, but really no better than the default E-1.

I will see if being a two-Tesla household this year (with the month-old Model 3) starts bringing EV-A closer to E-6 due to the increased off-peak charging usage.
 
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Unless you have unavoidable Peak usage, if you charge an EV off-peak the EV-A plan is usually cheaper. When I got my first EV in 2013, E-9 was the cheapest because the Summer Tier 1 Off-Peak was below 3.8c/kWh. That didn't last long. Now that Powerwalls are shaving off all my Peak usage, my true-up should be reduced considerably. My 4.3kW of solar is nowhere near enough to offset the house and 2 EVs.
 
Hey folks, I signed up with Silicon Valley Clean Energy. I have a concern that this is a bad deal for me and want your thoughts.

A few details on my power usage and generation:
  • 10KW solar system
  • On EVA rate plan
  • I charge my Tesla @ Midnight to make sure I am using off peak power
  • I have a pool which uses considerable energy. In the summer I run during part peak to take advantage of the solar blanket on the pool. In the winter I run it off-peak to use the cheapest power.

Last year my power consumption and production looked like
  • 360kWh of Peak net usage
  • -1200kWh of Park peak net usage (credit)
  • 9800kWh of off peak net usage

I just got my second bill with Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) as power generation and I am beginning to understand the changes.

With PGE only my whole year is summed up and I get one bill based on power use of the whole year. This has the effect of paying the least amount on Peak Energy, but I don't get much benefit from the excess part peak generation since PGE only pays pennies for excess generation.

With SVCE Excess Peak energy is paid @ about 27 cents, Park Peak is paid @ about 8 cents. Both more than PGE. But they immediately do the conversion to dollars at these rates, not holding the net power. When I do the math on last years bill I see that my energy cost will increase by $200 a year!

I tried to talk to SVCE on Friday and the customer rep didn't understand the difference of holding power for the year in kWh vs. in cash. Or I don't :)... A supervisor on Monday is supposed to call.

I asked about switching back and SVCE rep gave me some scary talk that since I have not been buying power from PGE for two months I will be at the market rate for several months until they can start buying power in advance again.

Really would like feedback. Thanks

Phil
 
I asked about switching back and SVCE rep gave me some scary talk that since I have not been buying power from PGE for two months I will be at the market rate for several months until they can start buying power in advance again.
That sounds like BS. I am on Sonoma Clean Power and have a lot if respect for the various CCAs. I do know that they use third party help desk contractors for rate questions and I think this one is miss informed. As far as I know there are no "market rate" schedules. As mentioned above you should save about $0.005/kWhr with a CCA.
 
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Hey folks, I signed up with Silicon Valley Clean Energy. I have a concern that this is a bad deal for me and want your thoughts.

A few details on my power usage and generation:
  • 10KW solar system
  • On EVA rate plan
  • I charge my Tesla @ Midnight to make sure I am using off peak power
  • I have a pool which uses considerable energy. In the summer I run during part peak to take advantage of the solar blanket on the pool. In the winter I run it off-peak to use the cheapest power.

Last year my power consumption and production looked like
  • 360kWh of Peak net usage
  • -1200kWh of Park peak net usage (credit)
  • 9800kWh of off peak net usage

I just got my second bill with Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) as power generation and I am beginning to understand the changes.

With PGE only my whole year is summed up and I get one bill based on power use of the whole year. This has the effect of paying the least amount on Peak Energy, but I don't get much benefit from the excess part peak generation since PGE only pays pennies for excess generation.

With SVCE Excess Peak energy is paid @ about 27 cents, Park Peak is paid @ about 8 cents. Both more than PGE. But they immediately do the conversion to dollars at these rates, not holding the net power. When I do the math on last years bill I see that my energy cost will increase by $200 a year!

I tried to talk to SVCE on Friday and the customer rep didn't understand the difference of holding power for the year in kWh vs. in cash. Or I don't :)... A supervisor on Monday is supposed to call.

I asked about switching back and SVCE rep gave me some scary talk that since I have not been buying power from PGE for two months I will be at the market rate for several months until they can start buying power in advance again.

Really would like feedback. Thanks

Phil
I am not clear how you got $200/year more. IMHO, these are the two biggest differences that people will see:
1. If you owe SVCE money in any given month you have to pay it on the PG&E Blue Bill that month. You don't get to roll net Generation charges forward in your true-up. However, SVCE credits do roll forward.
2. If you have Generation credit with SVCE at the end of your true-up period greater than some amount ($400???) then they will cut you a check. This is even true if you are a net kWh consumer. PG&E wipes out your credit balance if you are a net consumer.

Here is the essence of how your bill is calculated with SVCE on PG&E.
- Add energy charges based on EV-A rate schedule Total Rates
- Subtract Generation Portion from EV-A tariff
- Add PCIA Fee (Power Charge Indifference Adjustment)
- Add Franchise Fee
- Add SVCE Generation charges.

SVCE has basically structured their rates so that they are fractionally less than the sum of the PG&E generation less the PCIA Fee and Franchise Fee.
One of my bills earlier this year was like this:
PG&E Generation: $-45.36
PCIA Fee: $23.84
Franchise Fee: $0.40
Total: -21.12

SVCE charges: $21.01

So, my bill was $0.11 less on SVCE than PG&E as a net consumer of 747kWh, almost all of which was Off-Peak for car charging.

The PCIA fee is the subject of a large and contentious proceeding at the Energy Commission right now. The CCAs and ratepayer advocates are fighting to keep the fee as low as possible and PG&E is trying to justify increasing it.
 
I had a long conversation with Silicon Valley Clean Energy yesterday.

They told me that the delivery charges work the same as before with net metering... With the only difference being that SVCE will pay more for excess power generation. I guess I will let it run and see what happens.
 
Silicon Valley Clean Engergy (SVCE--serving most of Silicon Valley and south Santa Clara County) and Monterey Bay Community Power pulled together recently for economy of scale and pricing to sign 2 contracts for renewal energy through solar panels and battery storage. The two power providers are Recurrent Energy Development Holdings LLC and EDF Renewables.

The following is a press release from Recurrent on their project: https://recurrentenergy.com/press-release/largest-ca-pvstorage-agreement/

This involves the above two community agencies signing a 15-year contract for solar power supplied by Recurrent Energy. There's a 55/45 split between SVCE and MBCP. The system involves a 150 MW solar system (located in Kings Country) and a 45 MW lithium-ion battery component for storage (capable of producing 180 MWh of energy capacity for 4 hours of flexible energy delivery.

The local paper said this project was being developed by Electricité de France and Recurrent Energy Development Holdings LLC and was expected to come online in 2021 providing enough power for 39K homes annually.

The two contracts that SVCE and MBCP signed were the result of competitive bidding that began in September 2017 according to an article in a local Santa Clara County paper. No mention I've seen of the equipment they will be using for the battery storage or who the solar panel supplier will be.

The second project by EDF to be built in Kern County, is scheduled to provide 128MW of solar capacity and 40 MW of storage (20-year agreement). Here is their press release: EDF Renewables North America Signs Power Purchase Agreements with Silicon Valley Clean Energy and Monterey Bay Community Power | EDF Renewables
 
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