Thoughts on Solar

Recently, I was talking to a client of ours about why they were so fortunate to be going solar as a Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) customer instead of being an SCE customer.  He expressed confusion when I said this, because everything that he had heard made him think the opposite was true!  That made me realize that some education was called for; hence this post!

I can think of three key reasons why going solar in PWP territory is more desirable than it is with SCE:

• True net metering;
• Tiered, not time-of-use rates; and
• No batteries needed! 

There are others - to be sure - such as the ease of dealing with the respective bureaucracies, but for now we will focus on these big three.  Let’s take ‘em one at a time.

True Net Metering

As readers of this blog know only too well, last year brought draconian changes to how solar system owners in SCE territory got compensated for energy that they put onto the grid.

WHAT SOME FOLKS SEEM TO HAVE MISSED IS THAT THESE CHANGES DID NOT AFFECT
PWP CUSTOMERS - AT ALL!!! 

PWP customers who install solar get full retail value for every kWh that they put onto the grid, which ranges from 20¢ - 33¢/kWh, based on the tier that you are in (more on that in a moment).  Pity the poor folks in SCE territory who are getting closer to 7¢/kWh.

PWP is not governed by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) so their shenanigans in San Francisco do not torment us.  Rather, it is the Pasadena City Council that has the final say in how solar customers are treated, and let’s just say they have your back in ways that the CPUC clearly does not!

Tiered Versus Time-of-Use (TOU) Rates

SCE is forcing all of their customers onto TOU rates and that means that energy used between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. can cost more than double what it does during the other hours of the day - as much as 61¢/kWh! Ouch!  Of course, most of the year, your solar system is not producing anything during that time period. 

But in PWP territory, the excess energy that you put onto the grid helps drive you out of the top tiers and lowers your overall bill.  Tiered rates are the most beneficial for solar, and PWP has them!

No Batteries Needed!

Batteries - or to use the more technically correct term Energy Storage Systems (ESS) - are costly, take up a lot of space on the wall, and in some areas - Altadena we’re looking at you - there are crazy restrictions on where they can be placed.  Sadly, if you are an SCE customer, the double whammy of no net metering and TOU rates, means you almost have to add an ESS to make going solar sensible.  Oh, and SCE’s power goes out - like a lot.  So having batteries can save you money in the long run and be there when the grid goes down.

Meanwhile, because energy from PWP isn’t priced based on when during the day you use it, you don’t need to store it during the day to offset costs from 4-9 p.m. (What is known as time-of-use arbitrage.)  Moreover, since you get full retail credit for every kWh you put back onto the grid, the grid itself acts very much like a battery for you!  Plus, PWP’s grid rarely goes down - Public Safety Shutdowns are unheard of in PWP territory, but they are a common occurrence for some SCE customers, especially at times of high winds or high heat. (It is 108 as I write this - yikes!)

TL;DR

PWP customers have it sooo good when it comes to adding solar! And while it is too late to save you from that crushing bill you are going to see in October, acting now means you will reap the benefits of adding solar for the next 20+ years! Let’s get started, shall we?

On the heels of the sad announcement of the bankruptcy filing of SunPower - a 39-year-old stalwart of the solar industry - and the loss of 290 jobs in California alone, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) just announced that it will decrease the amount of compensation paid by solar system owners for energy sent back onto the grid!

The CPUC had already slashed the so-called net metering rates with a ruling that took effect a year ago April.  As a result, the payback period for solar installations nearly doubled.  Combined with stubbornly high interest rates and the impact was devastating.  Scores of companies - including a giant like SunPower - closed their doors resulting in thousands of lost jobs.  And for what?  To pad the pockets of the investor-owned utilities like SCE? Outrageous.

But the CPUC isn’t done doing the utilities’ dirty work.  They just finalized a rule change that will slash compensation rates even further!  Starting next year, SCE export compensation will be as low as 3.5¢/kWh!

The only good news - and I’m reaching here because the news is catastrophic - is that for projects that submit interconnection agreements this year, they are insulated from these more draconian compensation rates for nine years.  That means consumers have less than four months to lock in these rates.

Bottom line: if you live in SCE territory and you have been thinking about solar, you owe it to yourself to act now! Give us a call at 626-793-6025, or email us at info@runonsun.solar.

The Ides of March came and went, and with it access to NEM 2.0!

We - and pretty much every one else in the California solar industry - experienced a mad, last-minute crush as we tried to get as many applications submitted with time to respond to the inevitable kickback from SCE before the final clock strike on April 14th. 

Our oldest filing with the status, “Application Submitted” goes back to February 21st.  That means  18 business days have elapsed since we submitted that application and it has yet to be looked at by anyone at SCE!  Ironically, this isn’t even an application for PV, it is simply a storage addition.  But yeah, things have been busy - that application was number 403,122.  The final application that we submitted on the 15th was number 433,008 - a total of 29,886 applications in 15 business days - that’s crazy!

So now what?  Well, for the next 28 days we wait to see what excuse SCE will find to reject our applications, because we know that they will! Once they do, we will respond before the final re-submission deadline so that all of our submissions end up approved.

As to everyone else in SCE territory, we’re sorry you missed out on the great gold rush of ‘23.  Know, however, that we have the modeling tools needed to accurately estimate your savings under the byzantine formula that is NEM 3.0.  And to all you folks in PWP territory, the good news is that nothing has changed for you!

Onward!

Some people are simply shameless, and it appears that the powers-that-be at SCE are among them. We just got this charming missive from the division at SCE that is responsible for processing Interconnection Applications:

Subject: Extended NEM Application Processing Timelines

Hello Contractors and Installers,

We are currently experiencing a high volume of new NEM applications. As a result, processing timelines are taking longer than expected. Please note, Interconnection Requests (IRs) may exceed our average processing timelines. Although most applications will be reviewed within 10 business days, some may take up to 20 business days to review.

To help mitigate this volume, we strongly recommend that you submit your application and the required documents in complete form, including all signatures and attachments. Ensuring that your applications are submitted in complete form helps us to minimize the number of touchpoints and reduce the application queue.

We request your cooperation and understanding as we work diligently in decreasing the application volume. Please refer to PowerClerk for the latest status of your application. If you have any additional questions, please send an email to Customer.Generation@sce.com.

Sincerely,

Eduyng Castano
Senior Manager of Customer Generation Programs
Southern California Edison

To deem this outrageous is to be way too kind. Gee, I wonder why there is a high volume of applications? Could it be because the bottom is dropping out of solar economics in SCE territory after the April 14th deadline? Who could have predicted that - apart from pretty much everyone who is paying attention. And how is it that SCE can unilaterally change the requirement for them to process applications? Doesn’t the CPUC have something to say about this?

The existing standard of 10 business days - two weeks on the calendar - was already a joke, but now they are saying that “some” applications could take 20 business days - nearly a month! Oh and to add insult to injury, they also raised the application fee - you know, the money that is supposed to cover application processing - by 25%! Must be nice to be able to jack the price that you are charging, while simultaneously reducing the service provided. Aren’t monopolies swell?

This is getting real folks. In an earlier post - find it here - we stated that we couldn’t guarantee NEM 2.0 for applications submitted after March 31st. But given this revision - and zero clarity on which applications might hit that 20-day limit, we need to push things up. RUN ON SUN WILL NOT GUARANTEE NEM 2.0 FOR ANY APPLICATION SUBMITTED AFTER MARCH 15! (The Ides of March indeed!)

This is a terrible way to run a business, but we have no control over the arbitrary nonsense coming from SCE. Please plan accordingly!

It is sometimes said that deadlines focus the mind.  Well, if you are in SCE territory, there is a deadline looming that you need to keep in mind if you are thinking of going solar in the next three years!

The deadline imposed by the CPUC upon SCE customers to get into solar under the existing, far more lucrative NEM 2.0 rules is coming fast.  Here are the key takeaways:

• You must have a complete application in to SCE - and accepted by them - before April 15th!
• SCE loves to reject applications at least once - if that happens to you, so that it isn’t approved before the 15th, you are out of luck!
• YOU DO NOT NEED TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT BY THE DEADLINE!!!  YOU ONLY NEED TO HAVE A COMPLETE APPLICATION BY THEN.
• Projects can be completed anytime within three years of submission!

I know people don’t think this way, but if adding solar is on your “to-do” list but realistically not for a year or two, YOU NEED TO GET YOUR APPLICATION ON FILE NOW!  It’s crazy, and it isn’t how we want to do business, but these are the cards we’ve been dealt.

One last point - this only applies to SCE, PG&E, and SDG&E customers.  If your utility isn’t one of those three, your fine, this does not affect you at all.