Cali Electicity w/Grid tie Solar

JRHill

This AM the wife and I were talking about recent news from one of her sons who lives in CA. In the last year he purchased and moved to a different location to reduce his commute to work. The house has 5k of solar and no batteries. Other than the standard electrical stuff in his residence there is a pool with it's associated pumps, etc. The stove, water heater and house heat is gas.

She said that his last two power bills were $1400 and next $2000 for the monthly service. Oh. My. Gosh! I don't know the details but I would love to see one of these monthly bills. Apparently, he has a 6 year 'contract' for whoever his providing his power so he can't get out of it? The grid tied solar is one of those installations that are a rental contract so that is in addition to the power bills he is getting. I am sure he is contractually prohibited from doing anything to the solar like adding batteries.

I wish I knew more detail but I won't stick my nose into the subject unless he opens the conversation. He's technically pretty sharp but he sure got into this situation discovering why the previous owner was selling.

littleharbor2

Wow! Sounds like he didn't understand what he was buying into . Sellers must be relieved to have gotten out of that contract.

Dave Angelini

Been real hot !  Not that hot though.  You can always add batteries as long as it is safely installed. I do this all of the time.

 Where, how big a house, how old of a house, how many people, pools, firing pottery....

Air conditioned batteries below

BB.

He may also need to talk with his utility... The prior owner should have had a GT Solar compatible meter (I.e., logs the Watts, direction of power flow, time of day, etc.). When he purchased the house, the utility may have switched him to a standard residential plan--Which (it is possible) that the utility is charging him $0.40-$0.50 per kWH for using power (at night) and generating power (during sunny day). Standard meters only "add power", they never "run backwards".

The whole idea of charging for energy flowing "either direction" was intended to to protect utility revenue.... A (somewhat?) common practice was for people to unplug the meter and install it upside down for part of the month (run the meter backwards) and reduce their bill.

That evolved into electronic utility meters with "Revenue Guard" that both recorded power used and power generated as power used (no flipping the meter) and flagging when meters "lost utility power" (being unplugged and plugged back in).

Not sure if that is what happened with your son's place--But it sounds like a possibility.

-Bill

Dave Angelini

So a KWH does vary in different parts.
Electric rates in California
The average residential electricity rate in California is 34 ¢/kWh, which is 99% higher than the national average rate of 17 ¢/kWh.

I think central valley is close Bill to your 50 cents? Or is that the higher tiers?

BB.

Here is a graphic of the July 2024 and beyond rates... Typically around $0.39 to $0.49 per kWH for residential, depending on season and how much energy you use. Get the Time of Use plan, it can run $0.31 to $0.69 per kWH (charge your car during summer afternoons, it can reach $0.69 per kWH).

https://www.pge.com/content/dam/pge/docs/account/rate-plans/residential-electric-rate-plan-pricing.pdf

-Bill

Dave Angelini

Thanks for that Bill ! 

Probably still needs to go higher for Gavi to be OK with the price.

Still holding a place for you to see Rod Stewart next month at Harvey's. Lowered rates down to  $0.115 per KWH this year. Cheers!

JRHill

I haven't said much further out of respect for the SIL's privacy. And I just don't know the details. But the impression I'm getting is there is a major rip in place. The consumer is made to believe there is a pending disaster so they are compelled to invest in a way to help with the problem and get some gain at the same time. Gee, that sounds familiar. Then they get raped on several levels.

I have read where some respond "Just go off grid!" Yeah, right. He knows how we live our off grid existence. He is in the peak of his earning years and they live the life with two small kids and a long road to go. It's a new view of a problem for me.