Official California PG&E Thread

[DaveEV]

Anybody knows how frequently (or infrequently) we can switch rate schedules?

Once a year at most. They might let you change it back after a month after switching in case you realize that you made a mistake (I think SDG&E lets you do this, anyway).

[DeaneG]

Good news, PG&E has a new rate analysis tool that they will run for you over the phone that will put in what type of EV you have, number of miles you estimate to drive per year and it will compare your current rate with E9a or E9b to see which would be best given your usage history.

Unless you have a full year of timed usage history to draw on from a smartmeter (hourly) or TOU (peak-partial-off peak), that would be a wild guess at best.

[Ready2plugin]

Good news, PG&E has a new rate analysis tool that they will run for you over the phone that will put in what type of EV you have, number of miles you estimate to drive per year and it will compare your current rate with E9a or E9b to see which would be best given your usage history.

Unless you have a full year of timed usage history to draw on from a smartmeter (hourly) or TOU (peak-partial-off peak), that would be a wild guess at best.

They installed a Smartmeter with my solar last October, so they had a full year. They also did some what-if's, such as what-if 100% of your usage was at peak, partial-peak or off-peak...

[DeaneG]

I got a call from PG&E last night with the news that the E9A rate is not available until after taking delivery of an EV. So they're going to do a rate projection for me to compare E1 to E6. Since they have no TOU data for me, it'll be interesting to see what they assumed.

[greenleaf]

Anybody knows how frequently (or infrequently) we can switch rate schedules?

Once a year at most. They might let you change it back after a month after switching in case you realize that you made a mistake (I think SDG&E lets you do this, anyway).

I called the PG&E solar customer service (877-743-4114). The CSR told me if I switch to E6, I have to keep it for a full year. And it takes about 1 to 2 weeks (from time of call) to get the meter switched over.

I asked if it is possible for me to read the hourly usage data online (which I used to be able to do with the SmartMeter). The CSR told me this usage data is not available with E1 or E6 net metering (but apparently Ready2plugin has it).

[greenleaf]

I got a call from PG&E last night with the news that the E9A rate is not available until after taking delivery of an EV. So they're going to do a rate projection for me to compare E1 to E6. Since they have no TOU data for me, it'll be interesting to see what they assumed.

The PG&E solar CSR told me the same thing -- that you can get E9 only if you have the EV.

[greenleaf]

I got a call from PG&E last night with the news that the E9A rate is not available until after taking delivery of an EV. So they're going to do a rate projection for me to compare E1 to E6. Since they have no TOU data for me, it'll be interesting to see what they assumed.

DeaneG, I think you mentioned before that you requested E9. Looks like you can't get it yet. So what is your current rate schedule?

[Ready2plugin]

Anybody knows how frequently (or infrequently) we can switch rate schedules?

Once a year at most. They might let you change it back after a month after switching in case you realize that you made a mistake (I think SDG&E lets you do this, anyway).

I called the PG&E solar customer service (877-743-4114). The CSR told me if I switch to E6, I have to keep it for a full year. And it takes about 1 to 2 weeks (from time of call) to get the meter switched over.

I asked if it is possible for me to read the hourly usage data online (which I used to be able to do with the SmartMeter). The CSR told me this usage data is not available with E1 or E6 net metering (but apparently Ready2plugin has it).

They told me that they would put in my past usage, I did not ask if it was hourly, but from what I see here it was probably monthly totals by tier.

[greenleaf]

I am going to put in my second measurement unit for the TED 5000 over the holidays to collect my usage data (now that my smartmeter is gone). I already have one measurement unit collecting my PV generation data.

I will decide if I will switch from E1 to E6 some time later next year. The difference between E1 and E6 is not that much in winter anyway.

[greenleaf]

Here's a figure showing the baseline rates for E6 and E9a: