Which PG&E rate plan should I choose after going solar?

[digitalFan]

I am a novice when it comes to understanding benefits of different PG&E rate plans. I have EVA plan since 2013. My solar installation is scheduled for next week and I expect the system will be turned on maybe within three weeks from now. I am in Sacramento CA area with lots of sun light throughout the year and I am not going for Powerwall at this time. My system should meet 120% of my current demand according to Tesla Solar.
Which PG&E rate plan should I choose when my solar system is turned on? Stay with EVA or select another TOU plan?
Also, my current electricity generation comes from Pioneer community electric. Should I say with Pioneer or switch back to PG&E? Thank you!

 

[TSV2000]

EVA is the best for solar since you get high price net metering from 2pm to 9pm and partial peak from 7am to 2pm. Summer solar production window sweet spot is from 10am to 4pm, so most of you production will be in partial peak or peak. And if you are charging your car off peak then it is likely the best plan regardless of solar.

They are changing the EVA rate schedule to be less friendly to solar, but you will be grandfathered with the existing time bands. I think the grandfathering is until July 2022.

Note that after the new EVA plan is implemented, you will be limited to 8x baseline consumption. Grandfathering doesn't protect against this. Once you go above 8x, you will be forced to move off of EVA.

 

[miimura]

If you are going to generate 120% of the kWh that you consume, the rate plan won't matter. The thing that might matter is if your energy supplier pays for your surplus generation based on TOU periods. With my CCA, they will pay for all generation at their retail generation rates, even with the EV TOU. So, that would tilt it in your favor. If you go with straight PG&E and you are a surplus generator, you will just get Net Surplus Compensation and your rate plan doesn't matter. You will just pay the Minimum Delivery Charges each month and they will wipe out any TOU credit balance at True-up.

 

[TSV2000]

If you are going to generate 120% of the kWh that you consume, the rate plan won't matter.

I'm not sure if this is true. The 120% estimate is probably on a kWh basis and not cost basis. PGE will charge 49 cents at peak and 27 cents at partial peak. Imagine a case where all solar production is during partial-peak, you will only be paid 27 cents a kWh for what you are feeding back, but later in the evening and night you are paying 49 cents per kWh for cooking, tv, dishwaher, etc. So you really don't get back the kWh you feed to the grid earlier in the day.

 

[miimura]

I'm not sure if this is true. The 120% estimate is probably on a kWh basis and not cost basis. PGE will charge 49 cents at peak and 27 cents at partial peak. Imagine a case where all solar production is during partial-peak, you will only be paid 27 cents a kWh for what you are feeding back, but later in the evening and night you are paying 49 cents per kWh for cooking, tv, dishwaher, etc. So you really don't get back the kWh you feed to the grid earlier in the day.

If you know you will be using a significant amount of power during Peak and you will be generating a surplus of kWh, then you may want to go to a rate that either has NO TOU, or has the smallest difference between Peak and Off-Peak. However, if you do a significant amount of EV charging, you still have 2:1 kWh Part-Peak (27c) vs. Off-Peak (13c) on the EV rate plan. Personally, my kWh consumption from EV charging two cars is more than my total other household usage. For the month of May my total usage was 1038 kWh and my Off-Peak was 707 kWh of that. During the same period, my solar only made 542 kWh.

For reference, E-TOU-A only has an 8 cent spread between Peak and Off-Peak during Summer and 1.5 cent spread during Winter. E-TOU-B has a 10.3 cent Summer and 2 cent Winter rate difference. If you get solar today, they may not let you stay on the E-1 tiered, non-TOU plan.

 

[GenSao]

I would stay with your current CCA. Pioneer community electric has "customers now realize an average 9% discount on electric generation over PG&E rates." Stick with EV-A as you have a lower cost to charge your EV. Check your total rates to be sure.

Pioneer's solar net energy metering is slightly different regarding a true-up, but overall very similar to PG&E. Pioneer will match PG&E's Net Surplus Compensation (NSC) rate. Your solar will offset the cost of the AC in the summer and may still make you money.

Despite NSE, the rate difference of TOU can save you money. We had a grid usage of 4,890 kWh with a credit from 4,356 kWh exported to the grid from solar. Although we used more power, we got a -$467,17 adjustment. Note, we have Powerwalls that helped mitigate home use during peak periods.

 

[digitalFan]

I am on EV-A plan for last 5+ years. My new solar system was turned on today (July 5th). I don't have Powerwall. Will I be forced to move to EV2-A?