By Judith Shadzi
When Cosmic Solar first opened its doors in 2009, we told people how much money they could save by installing solar on their homes and businesses. “Give your roof a day job!” we told them.
Though our clients saved hundreds of thousands of dollars with solar over what they would have paid SDGE, they still lamented: “When it comes down to it, SDGE will charge more for our solar by continuing to raise rates…”
And they weren’t wrong. In February 2022, PV Magazine reported three investor-owned utilities, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern California Electric (SCE) and San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) contributed a combined $1.7 million in 2020 to the Affordable Clean Energy for All coalition. The group’s goals were to cut excess solar generation, adding fixed monthly fees and eliminating many of the “backfeed” benefits of solar systems.
Utilities aimed to cut profits of rooftop solar owners. Currently, most SDGE customers with solar are now enrolled in a program called Net Energy Metering 2.0, which means when your solar system produces more energy than the home is using (typical during the daytime), the “extra” goes on the utilities grid and the SDGE meter spins backwards. Time of use periods being equal, when customers use the excess solar they have stored on the grid, they’re entitled to a near equal credit to what they would have otherwise been charged.
The utilities recently appealed to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the CPUC approved a variation of Net Energy Metering 3.0. Under NEM 3.0, rooftop solar will now only net a fraction of the credit when utilities buy back the excess their customers produced and stored on the grid. NEM 2.0 is slated to end on April 14, 2023. This has literally caused a panic among the general population. Everyone that has ever thought about doing solar will want to get grandfathered into the current solar rates.
No reputable solar company will go unscathed. All-hands-on-deck, working ten -hour days answering phone calls from anxious people that want to either buy a solar system or purchase extra panels for their existing system. The utilities are claiming if solar companies are able to submit customer applications by April 14, 2023, with no major deficiencies, they can still be “grandfathered” in. One problem is that the closer it gets to April 14th, the busier the Net Metering departments at utility companies are also getting, which may cause a bottleneck – and subsequently, a chance to miss out grandfathering into NEM 2.0.
Most organizations with a solar emphasis are currently giving guidelines and many differ. Many customers are saying utility customers have promised them if they apply by April 14th they will be grandfathered in, but the California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA) has commented that utility employees have been sometimes giving incorrect information. CALSSA asked to inquire with them when it doubt. It is chaos.
Reputable solar companies are selling ten times the jobs as normal with promises these projects accepted to NEM 2.0. Here at Cosmic Solar and Roofing we are giving a deadline of April 1st to be safe for promising grandfathering to SDGE clients because whatever the utilities or organizations promise, we know that in the end we will be held accountable. We also are warning customers it will be six months or longer before we can actually install these solar systems. It is going to be a rocky road ahead due to all the current demand in solar and we’re doing our absolute best to grandfather all our clients in to NEM 2.0 while moving forward with roofing, permitting, HOA applications, business operations and installations. Most reputable solar subcontractors are all backed up just like we are.
Though we at Cosmic Solar and Roofing are doing our absolute best to accommodate, no solar company is going to sail through with perfect customer reviews after this “solar storm” is over. Our Service Department is now dealing with customers of solar companies that have closed their doors or just don’t answer their phones anymore, companies like Sullivan Solar. This new NEM 3.0 paradigm is causing a real solar storm, and it’s difficult to understand completely the motives of the utility companies. One thing is clear; new Net Metering rules will clearly benefit the utilities more than the average citizen. And grandfathering yourself into NEM 2.0 by early April is one way to protect your energy future by installing new, exciting solar technology.
https://www.cosmicsolar.com/
