One of the great benefits of solar can be Net Energy Metering (NEM), when the solar electricity your home or business produces is more than what you need. It is commonly thought of as the meter going backward! Aztec Solar customers throughout Placer County may have received notices that their energy service is switching from PG&E to Pioneer Community Energy in 2018.
We would like to answer some questions about how this will or will not affect solar customers in that area.
Non-solar customers will start receiving electric generation supply from Pioneer in February. NEM customers will not be enrolled in February, but are slated to start receiving Pioneer service near the anniversary of their solar generation start dates to ensure no disruption.
PG&E will continue to operate Transmission and Delivery of electricity on behalf of Pioneer. NEM customers will be grandfathered in and still be effective 20 years from their system’s original activation date. The only difference is that the credits will be sent by Pioneer, not PG&E.
Pioneer will slash electricity rates by 3 percent for all customers, while at the same time increasing its NEM reimbursement rate to $.03 a kilowatt hour. In months where the net energy is greater than a customer’s bill, it will show as a positive amount on the bill. In April of each year (beginning in 2019), Pioneer will cash out the NEM credits if above the annual electricity bill.
Combined with the renewal of the federal Investment Tax Credit for solar installations at homes and businesses, solar is a great option for our customers in Placer County!
Contact Aztec Solar today at (916) 853-2700 to get started with a new solar system, solar water heater, or solar pool heater.