Special Update: New PG&E Ag Rates Approved and Released

A settlement agreement was filed last Friday, March 30th, finalizing the much anticipated PG&E ag rates. The settlement has several major impacts to PG&E ag rate payers:

• Consolidation: The current ten rate options (e.g. AG-5B, AG-4C, etc.) will be funneled into only three rate options for all ag rate payers.

• TOU periods: The peak rate period will be 5-8PM every day of the year; no more weekend exceptions for peak time periods.

• Summer season has been reduced to 4 months (June – September).

• Implementation: March 2021 for ag rates (November 2020 for commercial rates).

What It Means
Overall, peak rates will slightly decrease, while off-peak rates increase in price and duration throughout the day. A silver lining is that demand charges will reduce to some degree. For new and existing solar customers, this is a bonus since solar credits can only be applied to energy (kWh) charges. Lower demand charges means solar can now reduce more of your bill!

In A Nut Shell
Solar pays back at whatever current rates are, so the shifted peak window has a definite impact on solar savings – there’s no way around this. The rates were proposed more than a year ago, and will be mandatory within a few years, which means the majority of savings will be on the new rates. As solar integrators, we’ve had plenty of time (i.e. 12 months) to implement these rates into forecasted savings. Whether you’ve looked at solar in the past, or currently evaluating a project, be certain that every proposal uses these “new” rates. Even with these changes, solar paybacks are better than ever – in some cases 3 years or less!

What to Do
The Federal Investment Tax Credit remains at 30% until 2020, so now is the time to start planning for your first, or next, project with JKB Energy. With JKB Energy, there’s no fine print, and no guesswork. Let’s partner to create the optimal solution, and stay in front of the ever-changing landscape of energy costs. Your bottom line will thank you.