Official California PG&E Thread

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greenleaf said:
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).
 
Ready2plugin said:
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.
 
DeaneG said:
Ready2plugin said:
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...
 
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.
 
drees said:
greenleaf said:
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).
 
DeaneG said:
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.
 
DeaneG said:
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?
 
greenleaf said:
drees said:
greenleaf said:
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.
 
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 said:
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?
I'm still on E1 as far as I know. I installed PV about 10 weeks ago, PG&E is slowly catching up. BTW nice chart, greenleaf! I guess I'd be mostly looking at tier 2 in winter, and tier 3 in summer though.
 
garygid said:
Can one "accidently" run the whole house on E9A?
Or, is that already a one-meter system?
E9A is when there is only one meter and the whole house is on the E9 rate. E9B is when there is a separate meter just for charging and only the E9 rate is applied to that meter and the rest of the house is on a different rate.

I have been on the E9A rate since 1998 and it has worked well for me.

greenleaf, great chart! Is there room to put all 5 tiers on it? I do like how it points out that on the E9 rate tier one and two are the same. On e9 tiers four and five are also the same so e9 really only has 3 tiers total.
 
greenleaf said:
I have an updated figure with tier 1, 2 and 3 numbers.
E9a still looks like it will win overall against E6 to me. No wonder PG&E won't let me have it w/o a car.
E9a does have a larger "peak" area, but E6's "off peak" rates in the E9a peak fringes are not much better than E9a anyway.
 
DeaneG said:
greenleaf said:
I have an updated figure with tier 1, 2 and 3 numbers.
E9a still looks like it will win overall against E6 to me. No wonder PG&E won't let me have it w/o a car.
E9a does have a larger "peak" area, but E6's "off peak" rates in the E9a peak fringes are not much better than E9a anyway.
Based on the hourly usage data that I partly managed to save before PG&E wiped them out (when my Smartmeter was removed), E6 and E9a are almost a wash after I have my EV.

In summer, E6 is better, but in winter E9a is better. And because you can only switch once a year, you have to pick only one.

I think in the end, I would probably go with E6 because the timing is less restrictive (easier to tell my wife to do laundry after 9pm instead of after midnight!)
 
Not sure if there is anyone else in Pleasanton on this thread, but just in case....I'm getting my EVSE installed today and the city REQUIRES a 200 amp service on the main panel to install any EVSE. They even had the AV make and model listed, so there was no getting around it. So not only did I just updated my sub panel, but now I have to drop another $1,500 plus another permit fee for the main. It would have been nice if the $100 I paid AV would have given me the heads up, or if PG&E knew about it when they came out and did their inspection. Oh well, the good news is that I'm having my contractor (not AV) put in a second panel at the main that will qualify me for the E9b rate.
 
It appears that going down to the appropriate "Building Department" and discussing THEIR requirements for a hard-wired EVSE ... would be a helpful thing to do.

Perhaps duscussing 120v plug-in EV charging, then 240v plug-in, could also be useful.
 
Ready2plugin said:
Not sure if there is anyone else in Pleasanton on this thread, but just in case....I'm getting my EVSE installed today and the city REQUIRES a 200 amp service on the main panel to install any EVSE.
Ouch! If Foster City had the same requirement when I got my EVSE installed I would not have done the install and that in turn would have meant no EV for me. I am certainly glad they did not. I have a 100 amp service and it is simply not practical for me to upgrade.
 
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