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Understanding PGE/SVCE electricity bills/TrueUP

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I looked at all of the CCA Rate comparisons on bellow link. They all show the PCIA at ~$.048/kWh. Some are .0475. Some are .04804. and other slight variations

Like all things PG&E related this charge is complicated and changes over time and the PCIA charge is based on the "Vintage Year" that you left PG&E and switched to CCA. I'm not 100% sure if the FFS also has a "Vintage Year" or not. The "Vintage Year" also isn't calendar based and actually runs from July 1st to June 30th. So if you switched on 3/1/2021 then your "Vintage Year" is 2020 and if you switched on 8/1/2021 then your "Vintage Year" is 2021. My "Vintage Year" is 2017 which happens to have the highest PCIA and FFS rates.

The CCAs are putting out their comparison charts once a year and it appears that they are simplifying the PCIA and FFS charges and are using the highest numbers which happen to be from 2017. This is likely done to not under estimate your charges as no one will complain if their bill is lower. Both of these charges are listed on your black bill if you have Powerwalls or the Blue Bill if you don't have Powerwalls.

The current Pioneer rate comparison chart lists a line with "PCIA/FF" with a rate of $0.04808, so they are adding the PCIA and the FFS charges and presenting it as a single line item. It appears that they have chosen to use the highest PCIA rate for the 2017 "Vintage Year" of $0.04760 instead of the lower rate for the 2021 "Vintage Year" of $0.02887 that would applicable to new customers that are switched over on 1/1/2022.

Here is what it looks like on my black bill.

1636566136502.png
 
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Like all things PG&E related this charge is complicated and changes over time and the PCIA charge is based on the "Vintage Year" that you left PG&E and switched to CCA. I'm not 100% sure if the FFS also has a "Vintage Year" or not. The "Vintage Year" also isn't calendar based and actually runs from July 1st to June 30th. So if you switched on 3/1/2021 then your "Vintage Year" is 2020 and if you switched on 8/1/2021 then your "Vintage Year" is 2021. My "Vintage Year" is 2017 which happens to have the highest PCIA and FFS rates.

The CCAs are putting out their comparison charts once a year and it appears that they are simplifying the PCIA and FFS charges and are using the highest numbers which happen to be from 2017. This is likely done to not under estimate your charges as no one will complain if their bill is lower. Both of these charges are listed on your black bill if you have Powerwalls or the Blue Bill if you don't have Powerwalls.

The current Pioneer rate comparison chart lists a line with "PCIA/FF" with a rate of $0.04808, so they are adding the PCIA and the FFS charges and presenting it as a single line item. It appears that they have chosen to use the highest PCIA rate for the 2017 "Vintage Year" of $0.04760 instead of the lower rate for the 2021 "Vintage Year" of $0.02887 that would applicable to new customers that are switched over on 1/1/2022.

Here is what it looks like on my black bill.

View attachment 731480
Except that Pioneer specifically states on their Web site that PCIA increased 33% from 2020 to 2021. That does not jive with picking the highest rate from 2017
 
I'm assuming you mean this page Understanding the PCIA Fee - Pioneer Community Energy This page is a bit combative and appears to be trying to show that PIO is fighting against PG&E for their customers, so the information selected is likely to be supportive of their position. One example of this is they do not mention that the fee is based on the year that exit PG&E.

I don't have/can't find every final Tariff doc for E-TOU-C that has the PCIA charges listed, but I can go off of what my bills have had on them and a couple of recent tariff docs that I have saved.
  • October 2020 - PCIA (2017)$0.03334 + FFS - $0.00063 = $0.03397
  • January 2021 - PCIA (2017)$0.04407 + FFS - $0.00051 = $0.04458
  • October 2021 - PCIA (2017)$0.04760 + FFS - $0.00049 = $0.04808
So from 10/2020 to 01/2021 the PCIA charge went up 32.2%, the FFS dropped 19.1% and the Total increased by 31.2%. Is that close enough to the 33% that PIO has on their page? It looks even worse when comparing October 2020 to October 2021 (41.5% Total) , but less if comparing Jan 2021 to Jan 2020 (7.9%)

Now this is omitting that the fact that the PCIA is based on the Vintage year and for a Vintage 2020 customer that switch between 7/1/2020 and 6/30/2021 the change looks like this
  • October 2020 - PCIA (2020)$0.04243 + FFS - $0.00051 = $0.04294
  • October 2021 - PCIA (2020)$0.02887 + FFS - $0.00048 = $0.02935
This is PCIA reduction of 32.0% and for the Total a 31.6% reduction.

If you want anything more than you need to get Pioneer to show their work.
 
Isn't every customer of a certain CCA subject to the same PCIA Vintage year? If you initially opted out of the CCA, then joined later, would your Vintage year be different?
Good question. Also, I read where if you opt out back to PG&E, you have to stay with PG&E for a minimum of a year. Does that mean if you Opt out at the very time you are eligible for the CCA (in my case 1/1/2022), that I have to stay on PG&E thru 12/31/2022? Or does the one year only apply if I have actually received a bill under the CCA? Asking as some people say wait until your True Up to switch to the CCA. But if opting out at the beginning counts, you may have to wait until your 2nd true up
 
Isn't every customer of a certain CCA subject to the same PCIA Vintage year? If you initially opted out of the CCA, then joined later, would your Vintage year be different?
Yes, it would be different. It is based on when you switched service, not when the CCA started providing the electrical generation.

Each generation resource and departing customer is assigned a “vintage.” A distinct portfolio of generation resources is identified for each vintage year based on when a commitment to procure each resource was made. Customers are assigned to vintage years according to the date they depart bundled IOU service. Customers continuing to receive bundled service from the IOU are included in the latest vintage (e.g. vintage 2021 in the current application). Each vintage is assigned a separate Indifference Amount and customers are responsible for the cumulative PCIA rates for their vintage.
 
Good question. Also, I read where if you opt out back to PG&E, you have to stay with PG&E for a minimum of a year. Does that mean if you Opt out at the very time you are eligible for the CCA (in my case 1/1/2022), that I have to stay on PG&E thru 12/31/2022? Or does the one year only apply if I have actually received a bill under the CCA? Asking as some people say wait until your True Up to switch to the CCA. But if opting out at the beginning counts, you may have to wait until your 2nd true up
I don't know the rules that in place for switching, but I would expect a year commitment is required in both directions. There should be no need to wait for a true-up and the PG&E true-up (based on your PTO) is usually different than your CCA true-up (usually in April). IMHO, if you are going to switch then it makes no difference when you do it, so long as you have met any time condition.

Remember, the PCIA is based on the higher electric costs that PG&E has committed for it's customers. So, if you think that switching from the CCA lower markup/procurement generation costs back to the higher PG&E markup/procurement costs will save you money, think again.

Even with my worst case PCIA vintage year, my bill was always less than if I had stayed with PG&E when I didn't have solar. With solar the PCIA goes both ways, you get a credit for it when you export and you get a charge for it when you import. My system is a net generator, so it just doesn't matter to me and the higher net generation credit that I get from SVCE makes being with a CCA the right choice. Even when they lower the net generation to 200% of the PG&E wholesale cost starting in April 2022, it still makes sense to stay with the SVCE. Also, SVCE had a $2,000 credit for replacing a gas water heater with an electric hybrid heat pump water heater and with PG&E it is $0 (if you have a direct electric then I think they have a rebate for $500).

Going back to PG&E for a year and then switching back to your CCA to reset your PCIA clock, might have some tiny value ($0.04760 to $0.02887 saves $0.01873), but why go through the hassle when your net consumption is so much lower already with solar. If your net consumption on the year was 4,000 kWh that might save you $74.92/year.
 
When SVCE started, they auto-enrolled regular customers all at once. However, people on NEM were not auto-enrolled until their true-up. If you wanted to elect the Green Prime with $0.008/kWh surcharge for 100% renewable energy, they would allow you to trigger a true-up and enroll early.

SVCE has systematically set rates so that they were fractionally less than PG&E bundled service, even as PG&E had adjusted rates multiple times per year. That is why I tell people that there's no reason to opt-out of SVCE.
 
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When SVCE started, they auto-enrolled regular customers all at once. However, people on NEM were not auto-enrolled until their true-up. If you wanted to elect the Green Prime with $0.008/kWh surcharge for 100% renewable energy, they would allow you to trigger a true-up and enroll early.

SVCE has systematically set rates so that they were fractionally less than PG&E bundled service, even as PG&E had adjusted rates multiple times per year. That is why I tell people that there's no reason to opt-out of SVCE.
There were opt-out notices. I must have missed the first one, but I recall seeing the last one before the month before the switch saying last chance to opt-out. That made me look into what was happening and I saw that was a guarantee for the first year that it wouldn't cost more than PG&E and let the switch happen. Analyzing the bills, it saved me money and I wouldn't ever consider switching back to PG&E.
 
When SVCE started, they auto-enrolled regular customers all at once. However, people on NEM were not auto-enrolled until their true-up. If you wanted to elect the Green Prime with $0.008/kWh surcharge for 100% renewable energy, they would allow you to trigger a true-up and enroll early.

SVCE has systematically set rates so that they were fractionally less than PG&E bundled service, even as PG&E had adjusted rates multiple times per year. That is why I tell people that there's no reason to opt-out of SVCE.
Not opting in until true up makes sense. Not sure what Pioneer is doing. I could see where someone might be positive NEM if they switched before true up and have to pay a big bill. Or vice versa, be negative NEM and lose those credits before they are able to use them up.

I don't see any reason to go to Pioneer. Reasons I won't:
1. My annual NEM is negative. What is the incentive to switch?
2. CCAs cannot control the PCIA. Not withstanding some of the posts above, I only see that PCIA has been going up
2. If CCA starts losing money, i.e., cannot get enough customers to cover their generation contracts, they can raise rates at will
 
Not opting in until true up makes sense. Not sure what Pioneer is doing. I could see where someone might be positive NEM if they switched before true up and have to pay a big bill. Or vice versa, be negative NEM and lose those credits before they are able to use them up.

I don't see any reason to go to Pioneer. Reasons I won't:
1. My annual NEM is negative. What is the incentive to switch?
2. CCAs cannot control the PCIA. Not withstanding some of the posts above, I only see that PCIA has been going up
2. If CCA starts losing money, i.e., cannot get enough customers to cover their generation contracts, they can raise rates at will
> 1. My annual NEM is negative. What is the incentive to switch?
Pioneer pays you $0.005/kWh more than PG&E does (~17% more based on PG&E $0.03/kWh for surplus generation) Pioneer will also send you a check if the amount is more than $25 instead of the billing credit that PG&E will give you that you might never be able to use.

> 2. CCAs cannot control the PCIA. Not withstanding some of the posts above, I only see that PCIA has been going up
Doesn't matter as you are a net generator. Also, as I have already pointed out based on PG&E historical numbers sometimes it has gone down.

> 3. If CCA starts losing money, i.e., cannot get enough customers to cover their generation contracts, they can raise rates at will
Doesn't matter as you are a net generator. The cost to generate electricity will very likely go up in the future. This will be true for both the CCA and PG&E, the difference with PG&E is that they are also charging extra on top of the costs that the buy to the electrical generators.

Staying with PG&E for generation is your choice, but your reasoning is flawed.
 
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> 1. My annual NEM is negative. What is the incentive to switch?
Pioneer pays you $0.005/kWh more than PG&E does (~17% more based on PG&E $0.03/kWh for surplus generation)

> 2. CCAs cannot control the PCIA. Not withstanding some of the posts above, I only see that PCIA has been going up
Doesn't matter as you are a net generator. Also, as I have already pointed out based on PG&E historical numbers sometimes it has gone down.

> 3. If CCA starts losing money, i.e., cannot get enough customers to cover their generation contracts, they can raise rates at will
Doesn't matter as you are a net generator. The cost to generate electricity will very likely go up in the future. This will be true for both the CCA and PG&E, the difference with PG&E is that they are also charging extra on top of the costs that the buy to the electrical generators.

Staying with PG&E for generation is your choice, but your reasoning is flawed.
I'm not a Net Generator! I have negative NEM, but use more than I send back to PG&E. Its due to my rate arbitrage with PWs
 
Interesting, care to share your numbers and last true-up? I would be interested in seeing how that works out.
I'll find the bill and share. I can say this so far:
I got solar over a year before PWs. Without PWs, my NEM was ~$200 and I was a net consumer. I added PWs and used Cost Saving with ~33% reserve most of the year. My next NEM was way negative. I need to find the bill, but I recall -$700 or so. (Did not change consuming habits.) Still a net consumer as I did not generate any more than w/o PWs. I've since adjusted my Reserve to 60% (higher when storms imminent) and I think I'm on track for a zeroish NEM as it does no good to be a net consumer with negative NEM
 
It was worse than I thought. NEM was -$927.74
I used 9,440 kWh
Exported 8,910 kWh

Net ConsumerView attachment 731661
Electric heat, a big holiday light display or just EV charging?

So you had 9,440 kWh imported which cost you $191.87 in NBCs minus your MDCs of around $117.90, so your true-up cost you $73.97 which is pretty decent for using the grid as giant battery through arbitrage. Your net kWh is +530 (9,400-8,910), so no credit as you mentioned and the credits go poof.
 
Electric heat, a big holiday light display or just EV charging?

So you had 9,440 kWh imported which cost you $191.87 in NBCs minus your MDCs of around $117.90, so your true-up cost you $73.97 which is pretty decent for using the grid as giant battery through arbitrage. Your net kWh is +530 (9,400-8,910), so no credit as you mentioned and the credits go poof.
I replaced old gas furnace with a Heat Pump prior to that winter, but it only heats half the house. My upstairs is still gas heat, but the "upstairs" is main living space as we are on a hill and the house goes down from street level.
We had an EV for most of that bill. Turned it in off lease in Feb 2021. Not that many miles each day though. Our big consumption is AC in the summer, but we managed to stay mostly off Peak with the arbitrage.

As I said, I've since changed that aggressive cost saving mode into more conservative with a higher reserve due to that large minus NEM. Trying to target zero NEM. We will see how I do come April
 
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