Rooftop Solar
Already have solar or thinking about getting solar?
Do you want to generate and store your own clean energy? Use it to power your electric vehicle and your energy-efficient home appliances? Curious how much you could save with a solar + battery system? Solar + Battery Assistant can help. Customers with solar power at their home or business can take advantage of Silicon Valley Clean Energy’s attractive Net Energy Metering (NEM) program. Watch the video to more about how NEM works.
SVCE NEM Program Benefits
Get Paid for Excess Solar Generation
Starting May 2022, SVCE will pay two times the net surplus compensation rate (NSC rate) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of any excess solar that is produced and put back onto the grid. The NSC rate is based on current market prices. The rate averages around 3 cents per kWh and varies each month. The means you will get paid more for excess solar with SVCE than if you were with PG&E’s bundled service. Income-qualified customers will receive additional compensation with a pricing 2.5 times the NSC rate per kilowatt-hour.
This change will only affect NEM customers that generate surplus electricity on an annual basis. The majority of NEM customers will see no change in their service.
For April 2022, SVCE will continue to pay customers at the full retail rate for any net surplus generation.
Monthly Billing with Credit Roll Over
We bill you monthly so you don’t end up with a year’s worth of charges in an annual true-up. Excess credits rollover month-to-month.
Automatic Annual Cash Out
SVCE generation net surplus compensation balances over $100 are automatically paid to you in April of each year, up to a maximum $5,000. For balances less than $100 the remaining value will be applied as a direct bill credit on the statement ending in April of each year.
Opportunity to Enroll in GreenPrime
Unlike with PG&E, SVCE NEM customers can ensure that when you do need additional electricity, it’s sourced with 100% renewable energy—at an additional cost of only $0.008/kWh.
Additional GreenPrime Value for Surplus Generation
Excess solar produced each month for GreenPrime customers is valued at an additional $0.008 per kWh in the monthly credit rollover. For the annual cashout, GreenPrime is valued the same as GreenStart – two times the net surplus compensation rate – starting May 2022, and will be implemented in the April 2023 cashout.
How NEM Works
A special meter tracks the difference between the amount of electricity your solar panels produce and the amount of electricity you use during each billing cycle. When your panels produce more electricity than you use, you receive a credit on your bill. And if your credits add up to $100 or more, you’ll receive a check from SVCE in April, up to a maximum of $5,000.
If you sign up for Silicon Valley Clean Energy’s premium 100% renewable GreenPrime service, you will pay an additional $0.008/kWh for net consumption, but you will be credited an additional $0.008 for net generation—and excess credits roll over every month.
Eligibility
Any SVCE customer who meets PG&E’s NEM program requirements is eligible for our NEM program. Generally, this includes customers with renewable electric generation systems (such as solar, wind, biogas and fuel cell installations) that are less than 1,000 kW. A typical residential installation is 4-5 kW, and the typical commercial installation is 100-200 kW.
Silicon Valley Clean Energy’s NEM program is only available to customers within the SVCE service area. Customers outside of SVCE’s service area can still apply for NEM through PG&E, but will not benefit from SVCE’s attractive NEM tariff.
How To Enroll
Current NEM Customers. If you’re already enrolled in PG&E’s NEM program and you switch to SVCE, you will automatically be enrolled in SVCE’s NEM program—no action is necessary. Both PG&E and SVCE will perform a settlement of your account’s net charges and credits (known as a “true-up”) when your energy provider changes to SVCE or back to PG&E. This settlement will result in a balance due for any usage charges owed to-date, or alternatively will result in a forfeiture of any excess credits on your account at that time.
New NEM Customers. SVCE customers sign up for the NEM program as usual, through PG&E. You will then be automatically served by SVCE’s NEM program.
PG&E is required to complete the NEM interconnection within 30 working days of receiving an application. If you don’t currently have an installed electric generation system, we recommend you first contact a solar or other energy system installer, or a professional who can guide you through installing a system and submitting a NEM application.
PG&E will provide final permission to operate your solar PV system and/or wind system, whether or not you are an SVCE customer. PG&E will review your completed application, along with a single-line diagram that is representative of your system. Upon a successful evaluation of your engineering review, PG&E will install your bi-directional meter. You may operate your PV system following receipt of a “Permission to Operate” letter.
NEM Sample Bill
As an SVCE Net Energy Metering customer, you will see a NEM-related line item on the SVCE Electric Generation Charges page of your monthly energy bill. You’ll find details about the non-NEM charges in Understanding Your Bill.
Credit to/from NEM Balance
A new line is added to your billing statement indicating accrued Net Energy Metering (NEM) generation credits called “Credited to NEM Balance.” This is how much is added or subtracted from your existing NEM Balance, if any.
Your SVCE NEM Credit Balance is Now $XX.XX
This is your credit balance which will be applied to future months.
Your SVCE NEM Balance Owed is Now $0.00
If you do not have a credit balance, this message will show. Also, during April true-up, if you have a credit balance, the credit balance amount will show on this line indicating how much SVCE owes you.
