California’s utility watchdog agency appears to have sided with PG&E and the other large investor-owned utilities today in a much-anticipated proposed decision on net energy metering that, if approved next month, will make rooftop solar and customer-owned batteries more expensive and therefore out of reach of working- and middle-class consumers. You can view the full proposed decision here.
While CALSSA is still doing in-depth analysis of the proposal, at first glance, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) proposal for modifying net metering program would make the following changes:
Solar Fees
The PD includes large new monthly charges for residential solar customers.
PG&E: $8 per kW of installed solar capacity. This is $48 per month for a customer with a typical solar system size of 6 kW.
SCE: $8 per kW of installed solar capacity plus $12 per month. This is $60 per month for a typical customer.
SDG&E: $8 per kW of installed solar capacity plus $16 per month. This is $64 per month for a typical customer.
Low income customers are exempt from the monthly charges.
There are no new fees for commercial solar customers.
NEM Credit Value
Export compensation is based on values directly produced by the Avoided Cost Calculator. More analysis is needed, but the value appears to be approximately 5 cents/kWh. This is a reduction from 20-30 cents/kWh today for residential customers. There is no transition glidepath, so the full reduction takes effect as soon as NEM-3 is implemented. It has different values for each hour of the day rather than consistent values within time-of-use periods.
Rates
Residential customers who are not low-income are required to be on certain rates. These rates include monthly charges of $12 per month for SCE and $16 per months for SDG&E, and are included above under Solar Fees.
Incentives
There is a temporary upfront incentive for residential solar customers known as a Market Transition Credit.
PG&E low-income: $4.36 per kW per month for ten years. For a 6 kW system, this is $26 per month.
PG&E non-low-income: $1.62 per kW per month for ten years. For a 6 kW system, this is $10 per month.
SCE low-income: $5.25 per kW per month for ten years. For a 6 kW system, this is $31 per month.
SCE non-low-income: $3.59 per kW per month for ten years. For a 6 kW system, this is $21 per month.
There is no incentive for SDG&E.
There is no incentive for commercial customers.
A new fund of $150 million per year is created to fund solar for low-income customers. All details will be worked out later.
Retroactive Changes
Current 20-year eligibility period for NEM-1 and NEM-2 is reduced to 15 years for non-low-income residential customers.
Start Date
The PD is scheduled for a final decision on January 27. The new tariff will be effective four months after a final decision (May 28).
Next Steps
The fight is not over! Consumers, affordable housing advocates, faith leaders, environmentalists, conservationists, climate activists, and solar workers and small businesses will continue calling on the CPUC and Governor Newsom to stop the utility profit grab and keep solar growing in California.