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Where is this mythical $0.40/kWh price for electricity (not transmission) actually occurring? Net metering does not expire after a year. You can continue to ge

by yuliyp 5y ago

Where is this mythical $0.40/kWh price for electricity (not transmission) actually occurring? Net metering does not expire after a year. You can continue to get any power you need matching the power you had put in on a 1:1 basis. The 1c/kWh is for the excess. Most of PG&E's infrastructure is transmission infrastructure, not generation. They wouldn't be building power plants themselves, anyway. Net metering allows rooftop solar to effectively get paid for electricity at a much higher rate than PG&E or local electricity cooperatives than would be paying on the open market. It is designed as a subsidy to motivate people to install solar. Pretending that it's a subsidy for PG&E is missing the mark.

ed25519FUUU 5y ago
> Where is this mythical $0.40/kWh price for electricity (not transmission) actually occurring? The standard residental TOU plan for PG&E peak usage ranges from $0.33 to $0.45 depending on the season. Have a look yourself[1]. But PG&E actually classes your solar power as green energy and sells it to "solar choice" customers at even HIGHER prices[2]. > Net metering does not expire after a year. You can continue to get any power you need matching the power you had put in on a 1:1 basis. The 1c/kWh is for the excess. There's no roll over of any extra generated power. You use it or you lose it. If you have $300 in retail credits they'll cash you out for $15 which is the wholesale price of it and you'll start again for the next year. > Net metering allows rooftop solar to effectively get paid for electricity at a much higher rate than PG&E or local electricity cooperatives than would be paying on the open market. You're paid in credits. Kind of like getting a gift card that expires in a year or days depending on when it was generated. It's non-transferrable and for all intents and purposes disappears at the end of the year when they true you up. To think people paying $30k for rooftop solar are somehow taking advantage of PG&E is laughable, especially given PG&E has a green energy mandate and doesn't have to pay a dime for that $30k installation. 1. https://www.pge.com/pge_global/common/pdfs/rate-plans/how-rates-work/Residential-Rates-Plan-Pricing.pdf https://www.pge.com/pge_global/common/pdfs/rate-plans/how-ra... 2. https://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/solar-and-vehicles/options/solar/solar-choice/which-program-is-best-for-you.page https://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/solar-and-vehicles/opt...
- yuliyp 5y ago
  Oh, I guess it'd been a couple years since I viewed the rate tables. In my mind peak prices were closer to $0.30. My mistake. The point is that the 1:1 ability to exchange power you generate for power to consume is a better deal than anyone else gets: Half of the per-kWh cost of electricity PG&E sells goes toward transmission (aka maintaining poles and cables) and half toward the actual generation. If you produce 1 kWh at noon, and consume one at 8 pm, you pay 0, so contribute nothing toward the poles that provided that electricity to you when you needed it. So in the end, you paid $0 for that net neutral exchange, while PG&E received $0.40 from the other customer. They paid ~0.15 for the kWh they provided to you. Overall that means that they delivered 2 kWh over their lines and got $0.25, which is half of what they would have otherwise gotten for delivering 2 kWh over their lines.

by yuliyp 5y ago

ed25519FUUU 5y ago

> Where is this mythical $0.40/kWh price for electricity (not transmission) actually occurring? The standard residental TOU plan for PG&E peak usage ranges from $0.33 to $0.45 depending on the season. Have a look yourself[1]. But PG&E actually classes your solar power as green energy and sells it to "solar choice" customers at even HIGHER prices[2]. > Net metering does not expire after a year. You can continue to get any power you need matching the power you had put in on a 1:1 basis. The 1c/kWh is for the excess. There's no roll over of any extra generated power. You use it or you lose it. If you have $300 in retail credits they'll cash you out for $15 which is the wholesale price of it and you'll start again for the next year. > Net metering allows rooftop solar to effectively get paid for electricity at a much higher rate than PG&E or local electricity cooperatives than would be paying on the open market. You're paid in credits. Kind of like getting a gift card that expires in a year or days depending on when it was generated. It's non-transferrable and for all intents and purposes disappears at the end of the year when they true you up. To think people paying $30k for rooftop solar are somehow taking advantage of PG&E is laughable, especially given PG&E has a green energy mandate and doesn't have to pay a dime for that $30k installation. 1. https://www.pge.com/pge_global/common/pdfs/rate-plans/how-rates-work/Residential-Rates-Plan-Pricing.pdf https://www.pge.com/pge_global/common/pdfs/rate-plans/how-ra... 2. https://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/solar-and-vehicles/options/solar/solar-choice/which-program-is-best-for-you.page https://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/solar-and-vehicles/opt...

yuliyp 5y ago
Oh, I guess it'd been a couple years since I viewed the rate tables. In my mind peak prices were closer to $0.30. My mistake. The point is that the 1:1 ability to exchange power you generate for power to consume is a better deal than anyone else gets: Half of the per-kWh cost of electricity PG&E sells goes toward transmission (aka maintaining poles and cables) and half toward the actual generation. If you produce 1 kWh at noon, and consume one at 8 pm, you pay 0, so contribute nothing toward the poles that provided that electricity to you when you needed it. So in the end, you paid $0 for that net neutral exchange, while PG&E received $0.40 from the other customer. They paid ~0.15 for the kWh they provided to you. Overall that means that they delivered 2 kWh over their lines and got $0.25, which is half of what they would have otherwise gotten for delivering 2 kWh over their lines.