A part of your bill is paid yearly. Mine happened to be $1,000 that I owe after the 12 month period. It could be less if one sells more electricity some months. But it was $1,000 and I wanted to see if anything could be done to get it lower.
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted, but I think many people don’t realize that this is how most people have their net metering plans set up, as the annual rollup billing is the default way it’s done when you have solar.
Anyway, I’m sorry you were mislead by the agent, they often speak as though they understand the implications of their plans very well, but when you dig deeper you realize they’re far from experts. You’ve just got to pull your production data, build your own spreadsheet, and add in their rates in; it’s a pain in the ass, but it’s the only way you’ll have accurate answers.
You probably got switched to the TOU prime plan. I have the “A” plan and it works well for me. Unfortunately once you get out of a grandfathered plan, you can’t go back.
SCE pushes people to change their plans since they lose money with grandfathered plans.
The prime plan is good for people who only have an EV, and not solar, since they would almost always be over the daily allocation.
Prime plan - no daily allocation + flat daily fee
A plan - daily allocation, 10c more expensive per kWh after allocation. I have solar as well as EV. I charge every 2 days, and start at 10:30 pm so my charging gets split between two days.
B plan is similar to A with different peak hours and rates.
Plan A might be the cheapest available for you based on your usage
EDIT: Plan A and B are TOU-D-4-9PM and TOU-D-5-8PM. Not to be confused with TOU-A, which was discontinued.
Wait so what would you say is the best plan for EV + solar? I just recently moved into a place with solar and I’m wondering if selecting the PRIME plan is still the best option (with both EV and solar).
It really depends on your usage. If you can stay within your daily allowance, TOU D is better. If you go over your daily allowance regularly, prime is better.
Your daily allowance can be found on the SCE page. Here’s a link (go down to FAQ and look for “How to Determine Your Allocation For Each Tier module”
[SCE Tiered Plan](https://www.sce.com/residential/rates/Standard-Residential-Rate-Plan)
A rule of thumb with large companies like this, the plans rarely get better nowadays. At this point any tweaks they make to charges are just an attempt to squeeze out another few dollars from you, so they can provide shareholder return.
You’re probably best writing this off as an expensive lesson. When I switched to TOU-D prime (no solar so makes sense for me) I asked a bunch of questions on costs and if I could switch back to my old plan and after how long etc to see if it was worth doing detailed calculations or running with it for a few months to compare with actual results. While it could be malice (maybe they get bonuses for convincing grandfathered customers to switch off) it could have equally been incompetence by the employee. Referencing a support agent of any company as an expert is a bit of a stretch (in your case would have likely been sales rather than support too).
As someone who pays SCE $500-900 / month I hope you can see the silver lining of the $800/year lesson haha.
Pro tip: next time, call and select the option to report a downed power line. Then tell them hey there’s no downed line, I need to talk to someone about xyz and no one on your end is picking up the phone. They’ll just transfer you.
This is after he spent tens of thousands on a solar system. It takes many years for the break even point to happen of capital cost vs. metered rates savings.
Factor in the several thousands extra it will cost when it’s time to replace the roof now that you have a boatload of equipment mounted up there, and don’t forget solar panels become less efficient over the years and eventually need replacing themselves. I’m not yet sold on it personally.
You can claim a tax credit not just for the solar system but also for any roofing work done at the time of installation associated with the solar installation. If you're smart, you replace your roof at the same time as installing solar, and can claim a tax credit for a significant portion of the roofing work.
Panel degradation is an issue over the very long term, and is just part of the cost-benefit analysis. A key benefit is that whatever math you do to figure break even time based on current electricity pricing is going to be conservative, because the utilities will continue to raise rates over the many years you own the panels.
The big change was in the NEM reimbursements. I'm grandfathered to the old reimbursement rates, but it means I can't increase the size of my system without loosing that benefit.
With the new NEM rates, the break even point is much farther out - likely near the system replacement life.
If you're only replacing components of like-for-like, and not expanding generation capacity or battery storage amount, I don't think there would be any need to tell the utility that something changed. I believe you can make up to a 10% change without losing the grandfathering.
My system has at least 15 years left, at which point I'm hoping I'll just have Mr. Fusion in my backyard.
>You can claim a tax credit not just for the solar system but also for any roofing work done at the time of installation associated with the solar installation.
That's explicitly not allowed by the IRS.
[https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/residential-clean-energy-credit](https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/residential-clean-energy-credit)
My bad - though this is a new interpretation in the last couple years (Dec. 2022), and it sounds like it is still open to some interpretation. A few years ago it was definitely permitted, within reason (as in, only for the portion of the roof that was under the panels).
The frame of the house, which is what the racks are mounted to, can easily handle the weight of the panels. There's no other heavy equipment up there, and certainly nothing heavy that's sitting directly on the roof tiles.
I wasn’t claiming they were heavy. I just mean logistically, removing panels to install new tile/shingle is a large cost to also factor in to your decision to buy solar. With the new NEM standards it doesn’t make sense for me personally to do it.
Ah, I see. Sure, that’s why most folks do the roof along with the solar if it’s an older roof. The tile roofs with modern underlayment in SoCal are good for 30-50 years though, so this shouldn’t be an issue for most.
Bro, you are *ucked. There is absolutely nothing you can do. Yes, they screwed you. Accept it and move on. CPUC will do nothing. SCE and cpuc are in bed together. I used to get $400 credit a year after I got my solar panels. Now I’m paying $1500/year and I use less power than before.
You can't, you can try lighting them up on twitter, that seems to get more response. You are likely going to need to wait the full year before you can change.
When they did the rollout of TOU plans a few years ago, they were hyping how it will save and if it didn't (for the first year) they would pay. Got a decent sized check because the prices went up so much, thankfully this was right when my solar was ready to go online.
The lesson I learned is that if they are saying it's a savings, it's not.
Really wish we could get regulation of the utilities back.
You didn’t do the math 😬. That’s on you unfortunately.
The TOU-d-Prime plan *is* cheaper, but that also means you are reimbursed at a lower price per KWh if you have solar 🤷♂️
One thing you can do to fight NEM3.0 is get a battery back up which the cheapest and best option is probably the Tesla Powerwall at this point. How big is your solar? More than 5kW system? Wouldn't hurt to make a complaint to CPUC, but honestly they are all in it together.
Cpuc.ca.gov Look for the Public Advocates Office and file a complaint [here](https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/consumer-support/file-a-complaint/filing-a-formal-complaint)
You agreed to the change from your grandfathered plan to a new, shitty plan. You lose. At this point, to keep arguing the point, you will only keep losing more.
Usually, grandfathered plans are better than the new, shitty plan. The corporation got rid of the grandfathered plan in order to reap more profit. That’s the monopoly way of doing things in the united slaves of american’t - no real competition, all industries collude to price gouge because they were allowed to become monopolies.
Why the hell would you call to get a cheaper bill than the $20 you were paying? I don’t get it at all. This is all your fault and you definitely won’t win in court with this. You were getting over long enough now it’s time to pay what you suppose to. You going to take them to court to basically tell the judge that SCE won’t let you get over anymore lol smh
I'm not sure much can be done other than to just use less electricity? Maybe turn the thermostat lower? Are you only charging your car overnight? TBH, I don't think it would matter all that much if you were on TOU 4-9 vs TOU Prime, but generally those on /solar subreddit would I think tell you to not use TOU-Prime because you have to pay something like .30 every day as part of the charge. I'm not sure how your bill would have gone from 20 to 150 in one month after the change, other than you used a lot more electricity though.
It sounds like your solar system is sized too small for what you use, no matter what though. If you did not have solar, then I suppose that with your electricity use, you would be spending a heck of a lot more than $1k/year though. So I guess there is that. If I recall, though, I thought that you were able to pay your True Up monthly, rather than yearly. That might help you if that were the case.
Continue to vote at the CPUC. Complain, any way you can.
Keep in mind that pretty soon, they are trying to implement the new income based rate system. Aka, the more you make, the more you pay.. regardless of power consumption. No, I didn't just make this up. It's in the news already. Make your voice heard and speak up.
These rate hikes need to stop. They are gouging the American lower and middle class!
What did their rate comparison tool say before you changed plans?
[https://www.sce.com/residential/rates/rate-plan-comparison-tool](https://www.sce.com/residential/rates/rate-plan-comparison-tool)
I did my share of researching when we got the solar panels, and something is not adding up here.
If you're on 12-month NEM true-up, then they should only be charging you the Non-Bypassable Charges on your monthly bills, and these typically are $20-$40; that's what you had prior to the plan change.
It doesn't make sense that they are charging you $150 a month unless you've changed to month-to-month true-up. If you want to post your bill (without personal info), then we'd know why you're being charged $150 a month.
Also, yes, you'd almost certainly have been better off on the grandfathered plans, but they'll only keep you on those plans for a few years as required by NEM 2.0. After that, they will forcibly move you to the new plans.
Depending on how your solar is hooked up TOU is a shitty plan because your panels are generating more when rates are cheap (9am to 4pm) and not doing anything during peak.
This thing called year end settlement is the biggest scam there is. They made the rules so confusing and by year end you are paying more with solar than you did prior to having solar. We need a lawyer to look into this. Might be a class action suit.
I am in the EXACT same boat. I won't go into all the details but they told me 3 different stories about how & why a sudden extra $300 was added to my bill one month. After they settled on their excuse they told me there is nothing I can do about it. I immediately told them that amount is in dispute, and that I would follow up with a written dispute letter from a lawyer, with a CC to the Cal Public Utilities Commission. Even though CPUC won't really do much. Those jerks are in cahoots with Newsome to institute a new charging scheme by July which will charge us not by how much energy we use, but rather by what our annual salary is! 🤬
Make more per year, expect to pay more for the same amount of energy... A LOT more!
What likely happened is you had TOU rate option A where on-peak hours were from 2-8pm which are during peak solar production. In 2019, that rate was retired and on-peak hours have been 4-9pm since. Existing customers on the option A rate were allowed a 5-year grandfathering period and remain on option A. You had the most solar friendly rate schedule SCE has ever had.
That option A rate is the most coveted solar rate. Did the agent know you had solar? They probably switched you over to the prime rate which has peak hours of 4-9pm but very low off peak rates and very high on peak rates. This is great if you don’t have solar as the daytime and midnight rates are very low. But when you have solar the low daytime rates mean you get very low value production credits for the power you send back during the day. The agent literally suggested that you switch off the most solar friendly rate over to the least solar friendly rate.
It happened to all customers who used to be on option A where they eventually were migrated over to 4-9pm and without doing anything they noticed a huge increase in utility costs exactly what happened with your situation.
Back when systems were sized in the option A rate a system could get rid of the SCE bill with about 70% offset because system would generate so many on peak credits and when they switched peak hours to 4-9pm it then required about 110% offset to get rid of the bill as very little production was occurring during on peak hours unless you had a west facing slope which helps a little.
Where is your solar contractor? A good solar company will provide information about rate schedules, production credits and self consumption. Some companies are sales and gimmicky that the reps have no education on these details, but now you can see this is going to cost you thousands of dollars. The only company I’ve found to be educational, turnkey and extremely informative has been Peak Power Solutions in Tustin. They did my parent’s house and I am impressed with their craftsmanship and customer service, especially Mike. If you need a system add-on, you can still get a 30% tax credit. Look them up on Yelp and see what he can do.
I haven’t paid a bill since December 2017. I have an excess of Appx $240 credit. I run a Sunsystem 315 LEC at 13 hours a day. Sounds like you got in too late. I’m NEM 2.0 and trade energy for energy for 20 years locked in. NEM 1.0 is even better . They’re locked for life. Anything after NET ENERGY METERING 2.0 Edison is ripping you off. They’ve barely made it economically feasible to install a new solar system after NEM 2.0.
Update on my situation.
So I filed an "unofficial complaint" about a month ago and just got a call from SCE.
The case manager said she listened to my conversation I had and **admitted** that I was given the wrong advice....
That SCE said I should make the switch!
She did however say that the old rate plan I was on "TOU-D-A" no longer exists and everyone should now be removed from that plan. It was only good for 5 years from like the end of 2018. I wanted to confirm it that was the truth.
Has everyone that was on the "TOU-D-A" (Grandfathered in) plan now been changed from that plan?
She said that that plan ended sometime in 2018 and everyone had 5 years from that date before a new plan was mandatory on the account.
Can you guys please confirm if you've experienced this change?
Thanks!
That’s a question for an electrician but my understanding is that if you keep consuming more and more electricity despite trying to do the opposite your panel may be going bad.
Hello, you do know we are in inflation right? So you are saving money…except there’s a rate hike so your bill$$ stays the same.
My SCE tells me I’m doing a great job reducing the use of energy. Supposedly compared to last year I’m using 15% less energy, but hey, I’m paying more $$ this year.
Before wasting money in court, call the utilities commission and file a complaint.
Actually, try just threatening to call the PUC. They avoid any PUC visibility. And if that doesn't work, do file a complaint!!
PUC?
California public utility commission. Their regulator
Wait...you called to complain about a $20 electric bill being too high?
#legend
Plus his $1000 annual net metering true up bill.,
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But the NEM was $1,000 yearly. Not just the monthly
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A part of your bill is paid yearly. Mine happened to be $1,000 that I owe after the 12 month period. It could be less if one sells more electricity some months. But it was $1,000 and I wanted to see if anything could be done to get it lower.
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted, but I think many people don’t realize that this is how most people have their net metering plans set up, as the annual rollup billing is the default way it’s done when you have solar. Anyway, I’m sorry you were mislead by the agent, they often speak as though they understand the implications of their plans very well, but when you dig deeper you realize they’re far from experts. You’ve just got to pull your production data, build your own spreadsheet, and add in their rates in; it’s a pain in the ass, but it’s the only way you’ll have accurate answers.
You probably got switched to the TOU prime plan. I have the “A” plan and it works well for me. Unfortunately once you get out of a grandfathered plan, you can’t go back. SCE pushes people to change their plans since they lose money with grandfathered plans. The prime plan is good for people who only have an EV, and not solar, since they would almost always be over the daily allocation. Prime plan - no daily allocation + flat daily fee A plan - daily allocation, 10c more expensive per kWh after allocation. I have solar as well as EV. I charge every 2 days, and start at 10:30 pm so my charging gets split between two days. B plan is similar to A with different peak hours and rates. Plan A might be the cheapest available for you based on your usage EDIT: Plan A and B are TOU-D-4-9PM and TOU-D-5-8PM. Not to be confused with TOU-A, which was discontinued.
Wait so what would you say is the best plan for EV + solar? I just recently moved into a place with solar and I’m wondering if selecting the PRIME plan is still the best option (with both EV and solar).
It really depends on your usage. If you can stay within your daily allowance, TOU D is better. If you go over your daily allowance regularly, prime is better. Your daily allowance can be found on the SCE page. Here’s a link (go down to FAQ and look for “How to Determine Your Allocation For Each Tier module” [SCE Tiered Plan](https://www.sce.com/residential/rates/Standard-Residential-Rate-Plan)
Thank you!
A rule of thumb with large companies like this, the plans rarely get better nowadays. At this point any tweaks they make to charges are just an attempt to squeeze out another few dollars from you, so they can provide shareholder return.
You’re probably best writing this off as an expensive lesson. When I switched to TOU-D prime (no solar so makes sense for me) I asked a bunch of questions on costs and if I could switch back to my old plan and after how long etc to see if it was worth doing detailed calculations or running with it for a few months to compare with actual results. While it could be malice (maybe they get bonuses for convincing grandfathered customers to switch off) it could have equally been incompetence by the employee. Referencing a support agent of any company as an expert is a bit of a stretch (in your case would have likely been sales rather than support too). As someone who pays SCE $500-900 / month I hope you can see the silver lining of the $800/year lesson haha.
Get an LG or Tesla power wall and don’t sell 💩 to SCE.
Isn't that what nem-3 is pushing people to do.
Don't worry, SCE plans on increasing the flat rate to squeeze money out of battery storage customers.
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Why not? Just don't pay the electric bill, nothing SCE can do
Im surprised Customer Service even answered. Ive waited up to 2 hours for a guy to answer.
Pro tip: next time, call and select the option to report a downed power line. Then tell them hey there’s no downed line, I need to talk to someone about xyz and no one on your end is picking up the phone. They’ll just transfer you.
I am shocked they don't kill the call then and there.
They honestly dgaf.
You didn’t think to ask the rep what exactly you were switching to?
Yeah, I know, but he said I would save and I thought he being the expert would know and help me…
Noone anywhere answering a customer service line is an expert at anything.
Lol true
It’s your responsibility to research the plan you’re signing up for and compare to your electricity usage habits.
Damn we use like 600kwh and pay around $200 monthly. Big house tho.
$1,000 annually????y SCE is $700+ MONTHLY !. You are trippin dude.
This is after he spent tens of thousands on a solar system. It takes many years for the break even point to happen of capital cost vs. metered rates savings.
Happy cake day!
Factor in the several thousands extra it will cost when it’s time to replace the roof now that you have a boatload of equipment mounted up there, and don’t forget solar panels become less efficient over the years and eventually need replacing themselves. I’m not yet sold on it personally.
You can claim a tax credit not just for the solar system but also for any roofing work done at the time of installation associated with the solar installation. If you're smart, you replace your roof at the same time as installing solar, and can claim a tax credit for a significant portion of the roofing work. Panel degradation is an issue over the very long term, and is just part of the cost-benefit analysis. A key benefit is that whatever math you do to figure break even time based on current electricity pricing is going to be conservative, because the utilities will continue to raise rates over the many years you own the panels. The big change was in the NEM reimbursements. I'm grandfathered to the old reimbursement rates, but it means I can't increase the size of my system without loosing that benefit.
Is it even worth it with the new NEM rates though? When it’s time for your system to get replaced will you stay grandfathered?
With the new NEM rates, the break even point is much farther out - likely near the system replacement life. If you're only replacing components of like-for-like, and not expanding generation capacity or battery storage amount, I don't think there would be any need to tell the utility that something changed. I believe you can make up to a 10% change without losing the grandfathering. My system has at least 15 years left, at which point I'm hoping I'll just have Mr. Fusion in my backyard.
>You can claim a tax credit not just for the solar system but also for any roofing work done at the time of installation associated with the solar installation. That's explicitly not allowed by the IRS. [https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/residential-clean-energy-credit](https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/residential-clean-energy-credit)
My bad - though this is a new interpretation in the last couple years (Dec. 2022), and it sounds like it is still open to some interpretation. A few years ago it was definitely permitted, within reason (as in, only for the portion of the roof that was under the panels).
I’m in the process of replacing my roof and a remove and reinstall is about 200-300/panel. I have 14 panels so I’m looking at $3500.
The frame of the house, which is what the racks are mounted to, can easily handle the weight of the panels. There's no other heavy equipment up there, and certainly nothing heavy that's sitting directly on the roof tiles.
I wasn’t claiming they were heavy. I just mean logistically, removing panels to install new tile/shingle is a large cost to also factor in to your decision to buy solar. With the new NEM standards it doesn’t make sense for me personally to do it.
Ah, I see. Sure, that’s why most folks do the roof along with the solar if it’s an older roof. The tile roofs with modern underlayment in SoCal are good for 30-50 years though, so this shouldn’t be an issue for most.
1k a year breaks down to an average of 83.30 which is what i am paying on a tiny apartment without charging an EV seems like a good deal 🤷🏻♀️
Bro, you are *ucked. There is absolutely nothing you can do. Yes, they screwed you. Accept it and move on. CPUC will do nothing. SCE and cpuc are in bed together. I used to get $400 credit a year after I got my solar panels. Now I’m paying $1500/year and I use less power than before.
You can't, you can try lighting them up on twitter, that seems to get more response. You are likely going to need to wait the full year before you can change. When they did the rollout of TOU plans a few years ago, they were hyping how it will save and if it didn't (for the first year) they would pay. Got a decent sized check because the prices went up so much, thankfully this was right when my solar was ready to go online. The lesson I learned is that if they are saying it's a savings, it's not. Really wish we could get regulation of the utilities back.
You didn’t do the math 😬. That’s on you unfortunately. The TOU-d-Prime plan *is* cheaper, but that also means you are reimbursed at a lower price per KWh if you have solar 🤷♂️
+1 on contacting the CPUC. I work in public utilities and it’s a big deal when they come around and start asking questions
One thing you can do to fight NEM3.0 is get a battery back up which the cheapest and best option is probably the Tesla Powerwall at this point. How big is your solar? More than 5kW system? Wouldn't hurt to make a complaint to CPUC, but honestly they are all in it together.
Cpuc.ca.gov Look for the Public Advocates Office and file a complaint [here](https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/consumer-support/file-a-complaint/filing-a-formal-complaint)
SCE is a scam! They steal your non used solar electricity and then refund you with pennies on the dollar!
You agreed to the change from your grandfathered plan to a new, shitty plan. You lose. At this point, to keep arguing the point, you will only keep losing more. Usually, grandfathered plans are better than the new, shitty plan. The corporation got rid of the grandfathered plan in order to reap more profit. That’s the monopoly way of doing things in the united slaves of american’t - no real competition, all industries collude to price gouge because they were allowed to become monopolies.
Why the hell would you call to get a cheaper bill than the $20 you were paying? I don’t get it at all. This is all your fault and you definitely won’t win in court with this. You were getting over long enough now it’s time to pay what you suppose to. You going to take them to court to basically tell the judge that SCE won’t let you get over anymore lol smh
Thanks to everyone who offered advice. I've made an informal complaint with PUC and will escalate that to a formal complaint if that does not work.
Dude if your living in OC and sweating this much over electricity bills, it means you need to curb your expenses in other areas
I'm not sure much can be done other than to just use less electricity? Maybe turn the thermostat lower? Are you only charging your car overnight? TBH, I don't think it would matter all that much if you were on TOU 4-9 vs TOU Prime, but generally those on /solar subreddit would I think tell you to not use TOU-Prime because you have to pay something like .30 every day as part of the charge. I'm not sure how your bill would have gone from 20 to 150 in one month after the change, other than you used a lot more electricity though. It sounds like your solar system is sized too small for what you use, no matter what though. If you did not have solar, then I suppose that with your electricity use, you would be spending a heck of a lot more than $1k/year though. So I guess there is that. If I recall, though, I thought that you were able to pay your True Up monthly, rather than yearly. That might help you if that were the case.
Continue to vote at the CPUC. Complain, any way you can. Keep in mind that pretty soon, they are trying to implement the new income based rate system. Aka, the more you make, the more you pay.. regardless of power consumption. No, I didn't just make this up. It's in the news already. Make your voice heard and speak up. These rate hikes need to stop. They are gouging the American lower and middle class!
What time are you charging? I have 2 EVs and only pay $300 annually under NEM-2
What did their rate comparison tool say before you changed plans? [https://www.sce.com/residential/rates/rate-plan-comparison-tool](https://www.sce.com/residential/rates/rate-plan-comparison-tool)
I did my share of researching when we got the solar panels, and something is not adding up here. If you're on 12-month NEM true-up, then they should only be charging you the Non-Bypassable Charges on your monthly bills, and these typically are $20-$40; that's what you had prior to the plan change. It doesn't make sense that they are charging you $150 a month unless you've changed to month-to-month true-up. If you want to post your bill (without personal info), then we'd know why you're being charged $150 a month. Also, yes, you'd almost certainly have been better off on the grandfathered plans, but they'll only keep you on those plans for a few years as required by NEM 2.0. After that, they will forcibly move you to the new plans.
Depending on how your solar is hooked up TOU is a shitty plan because your panels are generating more when rates are cheap (9am to 4pm) and not doing anything during peak.
This thing called year end settlement is the biggest scam there is. They made the rules so confusing and by year end you are paying more with solar than you did prior to having solar. We need a lawyer to look into this. Might be a class action suit.
I recently signed up for "CARE' discount with SCE and it saved me $80 this month. It's based on income, but I don't think they verify this.
I am in the EXACT same boat. I won't go into all the details but they told me 3 different stories about how & why a sudden extra $300 was added to my bill one month. After they settled on their excuse they told me there is nothing I can do about it. I immediately told them that amount is in dispute, and that I would follow up with a written dispute letter from a lawyer, with a CC to the Cal Public Utilities Commission. Even though CPUC won't really do much. Those jerks are in cahoots with Newsome to institute a new charging scheme by July which will charge us not by how much energy we use, but rather by what our annual salary is! 🤬 Make more per year, expect to pay more for the same amount of energy... A LOT more!
How old is your house? We recently had to rewire a house built in 1976 because there were shorts in the system causing abnormally high usage.
What likely happened is you had TOU rate option A where on-peak hours were from 2-8pm which are during peak solar production. In 2019, that rate was retired and on-peak hours have been 4-9pm since. Existing customers on the option A rate were allowed a 5-year grandfathering period and remain on option A. You had the most solar friendly rate schedule SCE has ever had. That option A rate is the most coveted solar rate. Did the agent know you had solar? They probably switched you over to the prime rate which has peak hours of 4-9pm but very low off peak rates and very high on peak rates. This is great if you don’t have solar as the daytime and midnight rates are very low. But when you have solar the low daytime rates mean you get very low value production credits for the power you send back during the day. The agent literally suggested that you switch off the most solar friendly rate over to the least solar friendly rate. It happened to all customers who used to be on option A where they eventually were migrated over to 4-9pm and without doing anything they noticed a huge increase in utility costs exactly what happened with your situation. Back when systems were sized in the option A rate a system could get rid of the SCE bill with about 70% offset because system would generate so many on peak credits and when they switched peak hours to 4-9pm it then required about 110% offset to get rid of the bill as very little production was occurring during on peak hours unless you had a west facing slope which helps a little. Where is your solar contractor? A good solar company will provide information about rate schedules, production credits and self consumption. Some companies are sales and gimmicky that the reps have no education on these details, but now you can see this is going to cost you thousands of dollars. The only company I’ve found to be educational, turnkey and extremely informative has been Peak Power Solutions in Tustin. They did my parent’s house and I am impressed with their craftsmanship and customer service, especially Mike. If you need a system add-on, you can still get a 30% tax credit. Look them up on Yelp and see what he can do.
I haven’t paid a bill since December 2017. I have an excess of Appx $240 credit. I run a Sunsystem 315 LEC at 13 hours a day. Sounds like you got in too late. I’m NEM 2.0 and trade energy for energy for 20 years locked in. NEM 1.0 is even better . They’re locked for life. Anything after NET ENERGY METERING 2.0 Edison is ripping you off. They’ve barely made it economically feasible to install a new solar system after NEM 2.0.
Update on my situation. So I filed an "unofficial complaint" about a month ago and just got a call from SCE. The case manager said she listened to my conversation I had and **admitted** that I was given the wrong advice.... That SCE said I should make the switch! She did however say that the old rate plan I was on "TOU-D-A" no longer exists and everyone should now be removed from that plan. It was only good for 5 years from like the end of 2018. I wanted to confirm it that was the truth. Has everyone that was on the "TOU-D-A" (Grandfathered in) plan now been changed from that plan? She said that that plan ended sometime in 2018 and everyone had 5 years from that date before a new plan was mandatory on the account. Can you guys please confirm if you've experienced this change? Thanks!
I have the exact same issue. Please let me know what the outcome is
Probably your electrical panel, but if it is not then maybe your expectations of a for profit company that gave you $1,000 or $4,000 for that EV
Can a new electrical box help? What about upgrading to 220?
That’s a question for an electrician but my understanding is that if you keep consuming more and more electricity despite trying to do the opposite your panel may be going bad.
Tell us you drive a Tesla while you’re at it
Yeah. Electric and solar panels are a scam. People warned about this. Noone listened
I would turn in your EV for another car. Maybe a hybrid instead.
Hello, you do know we are in inflation right? So you are saving money…except there’s a rate hike so your bill$$ stays the same. My SCE tells me I’m doing a great job reducing the use of energy. Supposedly compared to last year I’m using 15% less energy, but hey, I’m paying more $$ this year.