The NEM Program has a megawatt (MW) limit set by the State Legislature for PG&E at 2409 MW. This represents the point at which the NEM program installed capacity is 5 percent of PG&E’s highest aggregated customer peak demand
At the beginning of this year, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued Decision (D. 16-01-044), providing direction on the state’s Net Energy Metering Successor Program, or NEM 2.
Among the key changes to net metering in California under NEM 2 are the following:
- A one-time fee for PG&E to safely and quickly interconnect a customer’s rooftop solar system to the energy grid, which will be $145 for customers installing a system that is one megawatt or less in size. An average residential customer’s solar system is five kilowatts in size.
- A small charge for state-mandated costs contributing to public purpose programs such as low-income or energy efficiency customer programs. New solar customers on the NEM 2 program will pay these charges on electricity they use from PG&E’s grid, but not on electricity they use that is generated by their solar panels. All other PG&E customers pay these same charges for all of their energy use.
- New solar customers will be on a time-of-use rate plan in which the price of electricity depends on the time of the day.
Customers will remain on the NEM Successor tariff for 20 years from the year of the original approval from PG&E to interconnect and operate their systems. Any customer that switches from the existing NEM tariff to the NEM successor tariff will be able to use the NEM successor tariff until the expiration of 20 years from the original year of the approval from PG&E to interconnection and operate their system.
“PG&E is dedicated to supporting our customers’ choice and control when it comes to their energy. Because of our commitment to clean energy, we want to make sure our customers are well-informed and prepared as they start on their solar journey. We’re here to help them throughout the process and to safely and quickly connect them to the energy grid,” said Aaron Johnson, VP of PG&E’s Customer Energy Solutions.
While NEM 2 makes modest changes to the structure that has been in place for more than 20 years, rooftop solar customers continue to receive subsidies that are borne by all other customers. The solar market has evolved and PG&E is committed to working with all parties to find the right balance to support the continued growth of solar and align the cost of the energy grid for all customers.
In addition to NEM 2, earlier this year, PG&E’s announced a new offering for customers to go solar without installing panels. PG&E’s Solar Choice program offers customers the option to purchase their electricity from solar energy generated from new community microgrid projects built in PG&E’s service area. This option allows renters, homeowners and businesses to support solar energy regardless of their location or ability to physically install solar panels.
