It is becoming increasingly popular for utilities to offer time-of-use (TOU) plans to their residential customers. In a standard electricity plan, you pay the same rate for your electricity regardless of the time of day. TOU plans are different: the cost of electricity in a TOU plan depends on the time the energy is drawn from the grid.
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Are you a customer of San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E)? Whether you currently have solar panels on your roof, are considering solar, or don’t have any plans to generate your own electricity, SDG&E’s time-of-use (TOU) rates will have an impact on your monthly electricity costs. In the past, all SDG&E customers had the option of switching to TOU rates or remaining on their existing rate schedule. However, this began to change in early 2019 when SDG&E began the process of moving all residential customers (with a few exceptions) to a TOU plan. When it comes to choosing the right rate plan for your property, the best option for your home depends on your electricity use habits.
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Across the country, utilities are beginning to introduce innovative rate structures for residential energy consumers. These rate structures–from time-of-use rates to demand charges to real-time-pricing–all have a common goal: to incentivize customers to consume energy during times when the cost of generating electricity is cheap, and to disincentive energy consumption when the cost of generating electricity is high. As a result, understanding the ins and outs of a time-of-use rate can help you reduce your monthly cost of energy.
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Buying a home is one of the most significant and rewarding decisions you can make. As of January 2020, Californians will have the added exhilaration – and potential stress – of acquiring a rooftop solar panel system at the same time.
That’s because the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) approved a state-wide mandate requiring most new single-family homes, including multi-family residential buildings up to three stories, to install solar panels. The first-of-its-kind California solar mandate is designed to make new homes in California far more energy-efficient while saving homeowners tens of thousands of dollars on electricity costs.
To help people understand what it means to buy a new home with a solar energy system, EnergySage created the California Solar Mandate Guide: an educational resource for knowing what questions to ask prior to buying a solar-powered home. But before we dive into our tips and suggestions, let us first explain why paying a bit more for your new home just to have solar on it makes a ton of sense.
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A recent report from the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative found that half of all electricity customers don’t know what electric rate they are on, which begs the question: what electric rate are you on? And what do different electricity rates actually mean?
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Southern California Edison’s (SCE) new time-of-use (TOU) rate plans went into effect in March 2019, affecting the utility’s entire coverage area. Whether you have solar panels on your roof, are considering solar, or don’t have any plans to generate your own electricity, the time-of-use (TOU) rates will have an impact on your monthly electricity costs.
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California’s new net metering policy, commonly referred to as net metering (NEM) 2.0, brought some big changes to the Golden State’s solar market in 2017. NEM 2.0 is now active for customers of all three investor-owned utilities in California: Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Southern California Edison.
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