[RE-wrenches] PG&E NEM3.0

[Antony Tersol]

The official name is no longer NEM3.0.  That's the unofficial term.
It is no longer "Net Energy Metering", and is officially "Solar Billing
Tariff" (SBT).

The problem isn't TOU so much as no longer compensating at retail rates for
exports.  As related above, the compensation is supposed to be at something
like $0.05/kWh.  A battery is required in order to self-consume the solar,
but even that won't allow using summer production to offset winter use.
The economics are compromised.  A simple solar system covers primarily use
when the system is producing.  To cover everything else requires adding a
battery, which doubles or triples the cost of the system.

But more than the economics are affected.  The sale becomes much more
complicated - it is harder to understand and explain, and unless one knows
the details of the client's pattern of use, one cannot confidently predict
savings.  If the client has provided interval data showing the use
hour-by-hour for a year it is possible to model performance (with the right
software).  To optimize a system you need to run multiple simulations
varying the number of modules and battery capacity.

According to CalSSA (California Solar and Storage Association), our state's
solar lobbying group, 17,000 workers have lost their jobs in the California
solar industry, and publishes tracking of solar permits.  See attached.
There have been a number of bankruptcies of installers, which also impacts
the distributors who don't get paid.

CalSSA initiated a study with an energy economist to refute the claim that
solar has shifted costs onto non-solar utility customers.  It is being used
in educating legislators, and perhaps will be used in litigation against
the Public Utility Commission.  Discussion of the study is available at
https://mcubedecon.com/2024/11/14/how-californias-rooftop-solar-customers-benefit-other-ratepayers-financially-to-the-tune-of-2-3-billion/#comments


Antony Tersol
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