Last week the California Public Utilities Commission voted to preserve retail net metering. The long anticipated decision (NEM 2.0) is a win for solar system homeowners and keeps California in a leadership position as a clean energy state. Here is summary of the ruling:
- 1:1 net metering was maintained – homeowners will still be credited at the retail rate for all energy their systems export to the grid
- There will be an one-time interconnection fee for all new solar systems projected at somewhere between $75-125 based on specific costs to the utility; utilities have 30 days to file plans detailing the exact amounts for the fees
- The ‘shared subsidy’ costs that are included in utility bills for income-assistance and energy efficiency that are currently tied to the same volumetric calculation as all other rates will no longer be offset by net excess generation. However, the final decision reduced some of the “shared subsidy” costs from about 4 to 5 cents to about 2 to 3 cents/kWh. These charges will reflect the actual kWh pulled off the grid regardless of solar exported to the grid on over the course of the month
- Time of Use (TOU) will be mandatory for all new PG&E and SCE solar customers as soon as NEM 2.0 takes effect; and for for SDG&E customers in 2019.
The new rate terms will go into effect when a CA utility reaches its current NEM cap – SDG&E is projected to hit theirs sometime in Q2 2016, PG&E and SCE won’t see theirs until Q4 2016.
Net metering enables residential solar system owners to feed excess energy generated from their system back to the grid for others to use and receive credit for electricity consumed. OneRoof Energy CEO, David Field commented on the decision:
“The impact the solar industry plays in increasing investment, enabling job growth, and expanding consumer choices at the local, state, and national level is unprecedented. We are extremely pleased to see the California Public Utilities Commission has chosen to finalize their decision regarding the successor tariff for net metering preserving savings for future solar homeowners. Considering the major rate adjustments scheduled for California in the near future, this decision was critical to maintaining simple, equitable, and clean energy options for all residents in the state. We applaud the CPUC for their efforts in continuing to support clean energy alternatives while creating and expanding job growth.”
If you are interested in learning more about net metering or finding out if your home qualifies for solar our solar consultants are available to answer your questions.
