TOU metering report [RE-wrenches]

[Bill Brooks]

Joel,

Thanks for the updated information. When they roled out the plan originally
it was about $9.50/month for the meter charge. I would like to know what the
actual number is now. The $277 hurts small users as you pointed out and
those with large arrays (zeroing their energy consumption). TOU works best
for people who are already making money on TOU w/o PV (as in the example)
and have sized the system for no more than 75% of annual energy consumption.

It was a clear winner before the new tiered rates. Now it is a cloudier
issue. What about an array that faces east that peaks at 10:00 or 11:00
a.m.? My point is--if you are willing to do a detailed analysis--go for it.
If you want to make a general statement that will work for everyone--better
safe than sorry.

Customer's routinely say they will conserve, but when it comes down to it,
they often don't. Should the installer be held accountable for the customers
mistakes in this case?--Clear disclaimers in writing should accompany the
advice to use TOU metering.

Bill.


-----Original Message-----
From: Joel Davidson [mailto:joeldavidson at earthlink.net]
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2002 5:11 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Re: TOU metering report [RE-wrenches]


A non-Wrench just sent me this:
        On Bill Brooks' most recent posting, he's got it wrong -a TOU meter
is
not
5$ extra a month, it's less than $1 extra. If you have standard metering
(PV or no PV) and use absolutely no electricity, you'll still get a bill
for $4.82 every month.

        Since a large percentage of people work outside the home on
weekdays,
TOU
can work out positively for most residential customers, PV or no PV,
-unless you use so little electricity overall that it would take too long
to recoup the one-time fee of $277.

        One minor, but nice benefit of PG&E's TOU is that they program the
meter

to display instantaneous watts, which can be pretty useful considering that
a utility meter happens to be a first-class instrument for accuracy.

Bill Brooks wrote:

> Allan,
>
> That type of evaluation is fine for a spot check, but it leaves out
several
> very important factors that can cause the numbers to go the other way.
> Safest bet in California is to stick with the tiered rate unless the
> customer already has experience that their saving money with the TOU rate
> without PV (as is obvious from your example).
>
> The current tiered rate structure in California is extremely beneficial to
> PV and makes it very difficult to justify the additional $277 for the
meter
> and additional $5 per month for the meter charge. Just a caution so that
> installers don't take this analysis and run with it and end up with angry
> customers.
>
> Bill.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Allan Sindelar [mailto:allan at positiveenergysolar.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2002 12:20 PM
> To: New wrenches posting
> Subject: Fw: TOU metering report [RE-wrenches]
>
> Wrenches,
>     This report was posted to the SW-GTI forum that was mentioned here
about
> 1-2 months ago. While it doesn't affect us in New Mexico (no TOU), I am
> forwarding it to this group for those of us who can benefit.
> Allan at Positive Energy
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris Brock" <cbrock at cisco.com>
> To: <TraceSWGTI at eCompute.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2002 2:05 AM
> Subject: TOU metering report
>
> > This is not related to the GTI, however, I thought this might be of
> > interest to report on how Time of Use billing is working out for me. I
> > distilled a lot data; to make it easier to comprehend, I've tried to
> > explain it in plain English:
> >
> >
> > The PG&E summer rate schedule began May1:
> >
> > peak (M-F noon to 6PM only):     31.5 cents /kwhr
> > off-peak:                                     8.5 cents /kwhr
> >
> > from May 1 to Jun 25:
> >
> > I consumed  88 peak + 633 off-peak, totaling 721 kwhrs
> >
> > I generated 427 peak + 492 off-peak, totaling 919 kwhrs
> >
> > Looking just at off-peak, I used 633 kwhrs, but generated only 492
kwhrs,
> > so I had to buy 141 kwhrs from PGE, which cost me $12.41
> >
> > Looking at just peak, I used only 88 kwhrs, and generated 427 kwrhs,
> > which, because of its superior value, the surplus of 339 kwhrs earned me
> > $94.86 in credits
> >
> > Standard non-TOU metering is 12.5 cents per kwhr for the first tier. If
I
> > had been on standard metering, I would have earned a credit of $24.75
for
> > the surplus of 198 kwhrs I put into PG&E's grid.
> >
> > Because of TOU metering, the time of day is taken into consideration for
> > the value of the electricity I put into the grid:
> >
> > $94.86 -$12.41 = $82.45
> >
> > Bottom line: For me, TOU more than tripled (3.33 times) the value of the
> > electricity I exchanged with the public grid.
> >
> > Chris
> >
> >
>
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