San José Clean Energy (SJCE) is San José’s local, not-for-profit electricity supplier operated by the City of San José since 2019. We source clean electricity for our customers, and PG&E delivers it over their distribution system. We are powering our city to a clean energy future and believe rooftop solar plays a key role in that.
We are grateful for you, our rooftop solar customers. Each of you have invested in clean energy, benefitting us all.
Welcome to the first quarterly newsletter for rooftop solar customers. We hope you find this and future issues beneficial as we share the latest news about discounts and programs and help you make the most out of your solar investment.
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In this newsletter:
- 10% Discounts on Battery Storage Systems through SunShares
- Understanding Your True-up and Billing Options
- Potential Changes to Net Energy Metering – NEM 3.0
- Resources to Help You Understand Your NEM Bill
- Choosing TotalGreen Helps Add More Renewable Energy to the Grid
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10% Discounts on Battery Storage Systems
through SunShares
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Bay Area SunShares is back with exclusive discounts on rooftop solar, solar plus storage, and battery storage-only for Bay Area residents. Simply sign up on the SunShares website by November 30 to secure a 15% discount on rooftop solar and a 10% discount on battery storage from SunShares’ pre-vetted installers.
Projects that begin construction in 2021 and 2022 will be eligible for the 26% federal solar investment tax credit (ITC). In 2023, the credit is scheduled to begin phasing down.
Now is the time to seriously consider investing in your home’s energy resilience by updating your solar system or adding battery storage. Batteries paired with solar panels can power your home during outages and reduce energy costs by storing excess energy from your panels and dispatching it to the grid when electricity costs more. Learn more about your backup battery options on our website.
With SunShares, you can get up to three proposals for free, then decide if you’re ready to sign a contract. You can expect your installation to take place in the spring of 2022, just in time for peak solar production season! With battery storage, by next fall, you can rest assured that your home will be protected during planned and unplanned outages.
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Understanding Your True-up and Billing Options |
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We want to make our customers’ first annual true-up under SJCE service as seamless as possible. In July, we sent an informational letter to NEM customers with an overview of our NEM true-up process, billing options, and program benefits.
- You now have two true-up dates – one with SJCE in April for electric generation and one with PG&E for electricity delivery. Your annual PG&E true-up will occur during the month your system began operating.
- For customers who have not yet had their account trued-up, your first SJCE true-up is scheduled to occur in April 2022. You will see significantly more than 12 months of SJCE true-up accounting on your bill. This is because SJCE policy is to wait until customers have 10 months or more of billing history before their first SJCE true-up. This allows new solar customers to benefit from their NEM program for both summer months when excess credits are often generated and winter months when credits are often used up.
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SJCE also offers monthly billing for generation charges. To switch from annual billing or to be trued-up sooner, please contact us at info@sanjosecleanenergy.org or call (833) 432- 2454.
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SJCE customers that are annual net generators of power are compensated at a Net Surplus Compensation rate that is 25% higher than PG&E’s ($0.04190 per kWh for 2021). Since the Net Surplus Compensation rate is less than retail rate, it is more valuable to use the energy your panels produce than sell it back to the utility. Home electrification measures can increase this value. For more information and rebates, visit our Electric Homes page.
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Potential Changes to Net Energy Metering – NEM 3.0 |
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You may have heard that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is currently developing a new Net Energy Metering policy, known as NEM 3.0, to govern utility compensation and charges for rooftop solar. The CPUC is expected to reach a decision in late 2021 that could impact both current and future solar customers.
SJCE is a party to the NEM 3.0 proceeding, which means we can participate in the CPUC process on behalf of our customers. In a recent Reply filing, we asked the CPUC to:
- reject the Investor-Owned Utilities’ (IOU) proposed methodology for calculating NEM customer bill credits,
- reject new, high IOU charges for NEM customers,
- adopt a reasonable policy glidepath to ensure the rooftop solar industry can continue to grow sustainably,
- reject proposals to move NEM 1.0 and 2.0 customers to the future NEM 3.0 rate to protect existing customer investments,
- ensure the growth of rooftop solar in low-income and disadvantaged communities, and
- explore electrification-friendly rates for NEM customers.
Rooftop solar, especially when accompanied by storage, is an important tool that residents and businesses can use in the fight against climate change. The City is pursuing an aggressive Climate Smart San José goal of becoming the first City to install 1 gigawatt of rooftop solar by 2040. San José is fourth in the nation for solar PV installed per capita. Our residents install about 300 new solar systems every month, adding about 3 MW a month of new, carbon-free electricity within San José city limits.
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Resources to Help You Understand Your Bill |
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Every month NEM customers receive a detailed monthly energy statement with charges, credits, and other important information. To help customers understand their bill, we created the “Your San José Clean Energy NEM Bill Explained” flyer (located on our Rooftop Solar page) that explains each line item on your NEM bill.
Customers who were transitioned from PG&E to SJCE generation service may notice the new SJCE Electric Generation Charges line item. These are not extra or duplicate charges. Rather, they replace PG&E generation charges.
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Choosing TotalGreen Helps Add More
Renewable Energy to the Grid
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Did you know that as an SJCE customer, you have the option to receive 100% renewable energy with TotalGreen at any time for $0.01/kWh extra? This is about $3 per month for the average residential rooftop solar customer. Enrolling in TotalGreen helps bring more renewable energy onto the grid, improve air quality, and fight climate change. If you enroll, the amount you pay for TotalGreen applies when you are drawing power from the grid as well as when you are generating power and sending it back to the grid. The kWh “adder” for TotalGreen would apply to both your charges and your NEM credits. NEM credits are generally exported at more valuable Time-of-Use periods, so you may still zero out your bill, even if you import more power than you export. Visit our TotalGreen page to learn more and enroll.
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Text CLEAN to (833) 415-2329 to receive monthly SMS text messages
with tips to save energy and money.
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