Net Energy Metering

While the financial benefit for Ava’s Standard Ava NEM customers may be similar to PG&E NEM service, Ava provides other benefits as a local not for profit public agency. As an Ava customer, you can choose your service level and electricity mix: Bright Choice or Renewable 100. Ava offers Bright Choice at a lower rate than PG&E, Renewable 100, which is 100% renewable energy, and we have a goal of offering 100% carbon-free Bright Choice power by 2030. Ava is a local not-for-profit public agency, which means all of our board meetings are open to the public and net revenues are reinvested in our communities to create local jobs, innovative energy programs and clean power projects. Ava’s Board is composed of democratically elected leaders from each jurisdiction the agency serves; which makes them more available and accountable to the communities they serve.

You can also participate in both Ava and PG&E programs. For more information on Ava programs, visit our Go Electric web page.

With Ava service, the default is a monthly true-up. That means that, if you are a net consumer, you will pay for that month’s charges or your credits will be applied to cover the cost. If you are a net producer, you will accumulate credits that can be applied to future bills. These credits are paid out during the April cash-out period according to our annual cash-out terms. Your PG&E electric delivery charges will continue to be trued up on an annual basis.

You can also choose an annual true-up with Ava, which would roll over credits and debits until the true-up in April. Annual true-up customers will receive either a bill if usage exceeds generation or a payment for surplus generation at the April true-up. The majority of Ava’s NEM customers consume more electricity than they generate annually.

Your PG&E electric delivery charges will continue to be trued up on an annual basis.

A true-up is a reset of NEM charges and credits. If you have an amount due, you will be billed at your true-up. For NEM customers, PG&E does an annual true-up for the transmission and delivery charges. Ava offers a monthly and annual true-up for generation charges, with a monthly true-up being the default.

With a monthly true-up, customers receive credits for overgeneration and are billed for usage each month. Every April, customers receive compensation for any surplus generation.

With an annual true-up, customers are not billed monthly. Customers receive credits for overgeneration monthly and credits and debits roll over until the annual true-up in April.

The main difference between monthly and annual is the timing of when you pay for usage that is not covered by your own generation. Most customers will, over the course of the year, do about the same financially on either true-up option. Customers that tend to significantly over-generate in March and April may see a small financial benefit to choosing the annual true-up option. This is because on an annual true-up you can use credits generated at the end of the year to cover previous months’ charges. On the other hand, customers that tend to be net consumers annually may not like the annual true-up because it involves a larger lump sum payment once a year, rather than paying a smaller amount on a monthly basis.

If you typically see a large true-up bill from PG&E’s annual NEM true-up for your delivery charges, you’d likely see a significant true-up bill from Ava. Some customers don’t mind this, while others prefer to spread payments out over the year.

Ava offers both a monthly and annual true-up for your generation charges. You can change your true-up cycle at any time by completing the form linked on this page or calling us at +1 833.699.3223, but it will only be effective once the current NEM settlement period concludes in April. All true-up cycle selections are implemented each April.

If you see negative numbers for both your net generation and net usage, this indicates that you have generated more electricity than you used that billing period.
Your consumption is your total electric usage for the billing cycle. Your net generation is the amount of electricity that your NEM system delivers to the grid and your net usage is your net electricity usage from the grid.

The net usage is the net electricity usage for the billing period. It is the consumption minus the positive net generation. Your charges are based on your net usage.
Net usage= Consumption – Net Generation (positive)

In the example below, the net usage = 431.78 – 444.237 kWh

The net generation is the amount of electricity that your system is putting back onto the grid during the billing period.

The rollover credit balance is your calculated cash-out from the previous April cash-out period. If your cash-out value was less than $100, this will stay on your account and can be used for future monthly charges. If your cash-out value was greater than or equal to $100, this will only stay on your account until your check has been sent.

The baseline allowance applies to customers on the following rates: the Tiered Rate Plan (E-1), the Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 4 – 9 p.m. Every Day) E-TOU-C, and those receiving PG&E gas service.

Energy used within the baseline allowance amount is billed at the lowest price.

The baseline credit ensures that you are paying (or being credited at) the lowest price for energy used within the baseline allowance.

All Ava customers receive the generation credit from PG&E since they are no longer providing you with electric generation service. This credit is what PG&E would have charged you for electricity that you use. Ava now provides the generation service. NEM customers receive credit for surplus generation with Ava that show up on the Ava page of the bill as the “NEM Balance”. This NEM balance tracks your credits each month for any overgeneration your NEM system produces.

Yes, you keep your annual true-up with PG&E for your electric delivery charges. Please refer to PG&E for more information on their NEM services.

You can find your PG&E estimated annual true-up charges on the first or second page of your bill. As an Ava customer, these estimated true-up charges will only include delivery and transmission charges.

Ava’s April cash-out/ true-up period is when we pay customers for their surplus generation throughout the year. You can find your Ava credits on the Ava page of your bill listed as the “NEM Balance”. During the April cash-out period, any retail credits will be converted to your cash-out value, which depends on your NEM program with Ava. As a Standard Ava NEM customer, your surplus generation in kWh will be multiplied by the wholesale or Net Surplus Compensation (NSC) rate (PDF) for electricity to find your cash out value. The NSC rate is typically about 3-5 cents per kWh.

On the first page of your bill, you may see the following table, which includes an estimate of your PG&E true-up.

On the second page of your bill, you may see the following tables, which track your monthly PG&E charges/ credits and provide an estimate of your charges at true-up.

On the Ava page of your bill, you will see the NEM Balance, which tracks your retail credits/ debits for net generation or net usage.

There is a minimum delivery fee to be interconnected to the grid. This fee is typically about $10/ month for the average residential NEM customer and is assessed on the PG&E delivery portion of your bill.

Delivery and transmission charges are based on your usage in kWh. Net generators that do not have any net usage may only be charged the minimum delivery fees for being connected to the grid.

No, the Ava NEM balance credits will only be used to cover Ava generation charges.

Yes, you will receive NEM credits at the retail rate from PG&E and Ava when you net generate in a billing cycle. These credits are used to cover future monthly charges. Your annual cash out is calculated based on your over generation in kWh, so your annual cash out will only come from Ava.

If your cash-out value with Ava is less than $100, this will stay on your bill as the Rollover Credit Balance.

Alternatively, this may be due to a time-of-use rate schedule. You may have overgenerated during peak periods when electricity was more expensive, but you were a net consumer in total. This would result in you accruing NEM credits throughout the year, but not being eligible for the annual cash-out since you did not have any surplus generation. You can reach out to us at +1 833.699.3223 and we can review your bill in more detail.

Yes, we are aware of an option to make a one-time request to change your true-up month with PG&E. In addition, any time there is a significant change to your service, a true-up of your NEM charges will be triggered and your true-up month will be changed. Please reach out to PG&E’s solar hotline at +1 877.743.4112 with any questions.

The retail rate is the rate that you are charged for electricity. Every month, NEM customers receive credits for over generation at this same retail rate. The wholesale rate is the Net Surplus Compensation (NSC) rate, which is the same rate that PG&E pays out for surplus generation. The NSC rate (PDF) is based on the market rate for energy and is updated every month.

As a Standard Ava NEM customer, your surplus generation of kWh is multiplied by the NSC to calculate your cash-out payment. The cash-out payment is not affected by your service level.

As a CARE/ FERA Ava NEM or legacy municipal NEM customer, your monthly credit is based on the generation rate you are paying during that bill cycle + $0.01/kWh. If you switch service levels, the change will occur on your next bill cycle and you will then incur credits or pay for net usage based on that service level. At the April cash-out, you will be paid the dollar amount that is listed as your credit.

Accounts that terminate or leave Ava service prior to April are eligible for the Ava annual cash out process and will be sent a check for any surplus generation that amounts to a credit balance. Customers that opt out and choose PG&E should be advised that PG&E will perform a true‐up of their account at the time of return to PG&E bundled service, and that PG&E’s standard terms for transitional rates apply to customer returns with less than a six‐month advance notice if they have been an Ava customer for 60 days or more.

Your credit is based on the applicable TOU period-specific rates/charges. You will be credited based on the rate when you over-generate and you will be charged based on the rate when you consume electricity.

For the annual cash-out, Standard Ava NEM customers will have their surplus kWh (generation) multiplied by the NSC rate. CARE/FERA Ava NEM and Legacy Municipal NEM customers will be paid the dollar amount listed as credit.

At the April cash-out for Standard Ava NEM customers, the surplus generation of kWh is multiplied by the net surplus compensation rate regardless of service level.

During regular months, the surplus generation is saved as a credit at the retail rate (the rate you are charged for power by Ava), including the extra premium for Renewable 100.

Interested in learning more about NEM 3.0? Then check out this presentation “Informational Discussion on Proposed CPUC Net Energy Metering Decision” by Michael Quiroz, Regulatory Analyst at Ava.
Slides (PDF)
Video

The Solar Billing Plan (SBP) is a successor program to Net Energy Metering (NEM) 2.0. The program is for customers who submitted an interconnection application on or after April 15, 2023, and for customers who have completed 20 years on the NEM 1.0 or 2.0 tariff.

PG&E is planning to implement its Solar Billing Plan in April 2024 for residential customers and June 2024 for non-residential customers. Eligible customers may have received a recent letter from PG&E explaining their transition to the new solar policy, which will affect PG&E delivery charges. Ava Community Energy has not yet adopted an updated solar policy, though Ava’s Solar Billing Plan will be brought to the Board of Directors in 2024 for discussion and a vote. For details on Ava’s proposed policy, you can view the most recent presentation to the Executive Committee in November 2023.

Ava customers will see their PG&E delivery billing change when the Solar Billing Plan goes into effect for PG&E. Customers will continue to be billed on Ava’s current NEM policy for their generation charges until our updated policy is approved and implemented.

On your PG&E blue bill, under “Your Enrolled Programs” you should see either Solar Billing Plan or Net Energy Metering. You may also login to your online PG&E account (pge.com/myaccount) or call Ava at 1-833-699-3223 to check your status.

NEM customers are charged or credited based on their net energy usage each month. SBP handles imports and exports of energy separately. Imports are charged based on the retail rate and exports are credited at the Energy Export Credit (ECC) rate, which varies by day and hour. Customers’ charges and credits are then netted to calculate the monthly bill.