E6 vs E9 - Am I reading this right?

Re: E6 vs E9 - Am I reading this right?

You will have to check with PG&E--but, from what little I understand, there was a drawback with having both an E1/E6/E7 meter for your home and an E9 meter for your car.

From what I recall (a few years ago--back when PG&E was doing baseline + solar calculations incorrectly--from another thread)--you may only end up with one baseline allowance for your home. So--while your E9 off-peak rate is $0.05-$0.20 per kWhr, it might also push your E6 baseline rate up too ($0.33 per kWhr maximum)...

Or, the issue may have been with solar--it would "unwind" your E6 rate plan--but not affect (reduce) your E9 tier...

I don't know--but there was an issue for people that had both EV and Solar GT--and they where taking out their E9 meters and sticking with one meter for the whole home.

And yet, when I looked deeper--there is an E9A and an E9B rate plan... E9A is if you have one meter for your home (car+home) and E9B is for when you have two meters and only charge the car with the E9B rate.

And, it seems to me, E9A (home+car) is the way to go... The top off-peak rate (max tier) is much cheaper than the E9B rate...

Give PG&E a call and see what they say (and probably get it in writing).

I would be interested to hear what you find.

-Bill

Re: E6 vs E9 - Am I reading this right?

Sorka,

Also, see if you can get a spreadsheet from PG&E of the multiple plans (E1/6/7/9a/9b)... It would be interesting to do some what-if planing.

PG&E has "what-if" planning on the business rate side of the website--but not on the residential.

Also, remember that we are probably, in some areas at least, within a year or three of real-time power pricing--and it appears to be mandatory for anyone with a small Grid Tied generating system when it becomes available.

Ask them for a roll-out plan and how it would affect you (mandatory, phase-in, depends on rate plan/GT solar/EV/PHEV/etc. or what).

All your (and mine) detailed planning will probably get tossed out the window when real-time pricing comes to fruition.

I think Solar GT will still be important (for example, if you want to use power during the day for A/C, pumping, cooking) and not pay $0.53 per kWhr (or more).

-Bill

Re: E6 vs E9 - Am I reading this right?

I am not quite sure that it current makes sense to add a battery bank/inverter/charge controller to shift power usage with even a $0.01 per kWhr cost...

My 3kW GT system (with California rebates and Fed tax break) is around $0.14-$0.17 per kWhr (~$0.25 per kWhr without rebates/tax credits over 25 year life)... The other costs (including battery replacement) end up adding another ~$0.25-$0.75 per kWhr (based on the other times I tried to figure out the cost per kWhr for off grid systems)... (not including interest costs, taxes, or 20%+ power losses from cycling the battery/AC system)

So, even "free power" from the utility may still end up costing more than Grid Tied power and 1 year net metering.

You need a good financial model before just jumping into the power shifting business.

-Bill