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What is Up in San Diego?
11/04/11
What is Up in San Diego?
Strange days in San Diego where solar is booming but a cynical move by the local utility, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), just might rain on their parade - and this despite record profits for the utility!
We came across two separate but related news stories today that raise red flags when it comes to how SDG&E views solar.
The first is a report from Solar Industry Magazine by Jessica Lillian titled, New Utility Rate Proposal in San Diego Could Hurt Booming PV Industry. Apparently, SDG&E is telling the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that solar customers “do not pay their fare share of the costs that SDG&E incurs to provide them service, including costs associated with the export of the customer’s generation to the distribution system." What is their proposed solution? A “network use charge” so SDG&E can charge solar customers for every kWh they export out onto the grid! This despite the fact that SDG&E is essentially being subsidized by solar customers when they export energy that their neighbors can consume.
According to the article, when Daniel Sullivan of Sullivan Solar asked representatives of SDG&E what costs they had incurred to accommodate those exports, they admitted that the total was none.
As in zero, zilch, na da.
The CPUC will have the first crack at reining in this idiocy, but given how they handled the calculation of compensation under AB 920, it is hard to imagine that they will do better here in defending solar customers.
Of course, one might have some sympathy with SDG&E if they were bleeding money and needed to create additional revenue sources to stay afloat. Which brings us to today’s second news item. According to the Los Angeles Times (Business section, B5), the third quarter earnings of SDG&E’s parent company, Sempra Energy, more than doubled, “helped by higher revenue from [wait… for… it…] power generation." The company earned $296 million dollars in the third quarter alone with revenue increasing by 22% to $2.58 billion. Clearly, SDG&E needs to stick it to solar customers.
It gets better.
Existing law prohibits utilities from imposing new charges exclusively on solar customers. So apparently SDG&E is imposing the network use charge on all of its customers - except that only solar customers will be affected since only they actually export energy!
I know for a fact that some members of the California legislature read this blog (thank you very much) - are you really going to let SDG&E get away with this?
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3 comments
SDG&E, so sorry that people are finding ways to go green! This is supposed to help the economy and boost the green energy direction from our Nation, State and local leaders. San Diego customers already pay through the nose for energy and finding ways to help the energy situation is now going to cost customers more? WAY TO GO SDG&E. I guess your top executives will get another $20M in bonuses for finding new ways to target their customers. What do the “Solar people” get for assisting SDG&E during their peak power drive? Charged, we thought it was an energy charge only to realize it will become a monetary charge. If you can’t charge the sun, charge the people who harness its energy! Solar owners push energy onto the grid for free during peak hours, they don’t get a thank you or positive support, and they get additional costs added to their energy bill. YOU SURELY HAVE MONOPOLIZED THE ENERGY MARKET IN SAN DIEGO! The Solar numbers in San Diego are low enough that their voices won’t be able to stomp this proposal from going through so again, big business is going after those who are trying to help. Next, the oil companies will go after people for buying electric cars and not using so much gasoline. Grocery stores will be going after families for growing their own food. The gas company will charge you for heating your own hot water with the sun. When will this stop? SDG&E, you are welcome as we continue providing you free energy, now I’ll gladly pay you so you can use it, wait, are you kidding me? 
M Brown - I can appreciate your frustration, but I don't agree that the solar industry cannot push back successfully against this unwarranted money grab. There are lots of solar proponents in this state, and if we cannot convince the CPUC to head this off at the pass, we will have to get our friends in the legislature to fix it. The solution, though, is to get involved and keep the heat on folks to actually provide the policies that we need. Jim, I am there. Whenever I can to help with this fight. I will write letters, whatever it takes. I am not giving in. 
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