Net Energy Metering

As an Ava solar customer, you are served by both Ava and PG&E. Ava supplies your electricity generation service, while PG&E provides electricity delivery (transmission and distribution) services.

You receive a single monthly bill from PG&E that includes generation charges and credits from Ava and delivery charges and credits from PG&E. When your solar system exports electricity to the grid, both Ava and PG&E provide NEM credits at the applicable retail rate. NEM credits from Ava offset Ava generation charges and NEM credits from PG&E offset PG&E delivery charges.

You will also have two separate annual true-ups: one for Ava generation charges and credits and one for PG&E delivery charges and credits. Your Ava annual true-up is reflected on the Ava generation page of your April PG&E bill. The timing of your P&GE annual true-up is unique to your account and may occur in a different month than your Ava annual true-up.

There are two ways solar export compensation is calculated under NEM:

1. Monthly NEM export credits. Each month, you receive NEM export credits for excess solar energy sent to the grid. These credits are valued at the retail electricity rate (the rate you would pay to purchase electricity) and accumulate as a monetary balance on your bill. During the same 12-month true-up period, this NEM balance can be used to offset your Ava electricity charges.
2. Annual true-up and Net Surplus Compensation (NSC) payment. Annually in April, Ava completes your annual true-up process, which reconciles any outstanding electricity charges and excess generation accumulated over the previous 12 months. If you have excess generation, you are compensated at the NSC rate, which is generally lower than the retail electricity rate. Depending on your final balance, you will receive a credit on your bill or a payment for your excess generation. After the April true-up is completed, your NEM balance resets to zero and a new 12-month true-up period begins.

The retail rate used to calculate your monthly NEM charges or credits is determined by your electric rate schedule (e.g. E-TOU-C) and service plan (e.g. Bright Choice or Renewable 100).

If you are a net exporter, your Ava annual true-up payment for surplus generation is calculated using the Net Surplus Compensation rate, which is the same regardless of your rate schedule or service plan.

PG&E requires residential customers to pay a monthly Base Services Charge, which includes infrastructure and maintenance costs for connecting your site to the grid. This cannot be offset by NEM credits.

• Before you transition to Ava, PG&E will conduct a true-up of your NEM balance and compensate you for any surplus generation. Going forward, you will have separate annual true-ups with PG&E for delivery charges and with Ava for generation charges. Your new annual true-up date with PG&E will be the date that you transitioned to Ava service. Your annual true-up date with Ava for generation charges will be in April; Ava’s annual true-up occurs in April for all customers, and customers with surplus generation receive compensation.
• You will automatically transition to monthly billing for your Ava generation charges. This means that you pay for electricity consumption monthly if you do not have enough NEM credits in your account balance to cover your charges. Excess NEM credits rollover to your next bill. Monthly billing can help customers avoid a large payment due at Ava’s annual true-up. If you prefer annual billing, you may request this option for your next 12-month NEM true-up period by updating your selection online at AvaEnergy.org/nem or by speaking with an Ava customer service representative (833-699-3223). You will continue to be billed annually for your PG&E delivery charges.
• Your rate schedule and NEM status do not change as a result of enrollment with Ava

The Solar Billing Plan (SBP) is California’s 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, for customers who have completed 20 years on the NEM 1.0 or 2.0 tariff, and/or for customers who increase the generation capacity of an existing solar system by 1kW or 10% of the current system size. Your enrollment with Ava does not impact the timing of your transition from NEM to SBP.

If you transition from NEM to SBP, your NEM credits transfer to your Energy Export Credit balance, which is shown on the Ava portion of your PG&E bill. You will not experience an off-cycle true-up unless you are on annual billing, in which case you will undergo a true-up and settlement of your excess generation in order to move to the monthly billing structure required under SBP. To learn more about solar compensation under SBP, visit AvaEnergy.org/sbp. 

You can confirm your enrollment status in NEM or SBP by checking the “Your Enrolled Program” section on your PG&E bill, where it will list 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 833-699-3223 to check your status.

Accounts that terminate or leave Ava service prior to April will receive payment for any surplus generation that amounts to a credit balance. Customers who opt out and return to PG&E should be advised that PG&E will perform a true‐up of their account, and that PG&E’s standard terms for transitional rates apply to customers with less than a six‐month advance notice if they have been an Ava customer for 60 days or more.

With Ava service, NEM customers are defaulted to monthly billing for Ava generation charges, while your PG&E electric delivery charges continue to be settled annually through PG&E’s true-up process. Monthly billing helps prevent net consumers (customers who use more electricity annually than they generate) from owing a large payment at the annual true-up. Most Ava NEM customers are net consumers. Ava customers who prefer annual billing for their generation charges may switch to an annual billing plan.

Ava allows NEM customers to choose between monthly billing (Ava’s default option) and annual billing for your Ava generation charges. The main difference is the timing and frequency of your payments to Ava.

With monthly billing, you pay for consumption monthly if you do not have enough NEM credits in your account balance to cover your charges. If you have excess credits, these remain on your bill and can be used to offset future charges. Any surplus generation is settled and paid out during the April annual true-up.

With annual billing, you are not billed monthly for generation service. Credits and debits for consumption and net generation roll over until the annual true-up in April. You may owe due to under-generation, or receive payment, at the April true-up. Customers under both plans have an annual true-up in April.

Most customers will, over the course of the year, do about the same financially on either billing option. Customers who tend to significantly over-generate in March and April may see a small financial benefit to choosing the annual billing option. This is because on annual billing, you can use credits generated at the end of the true-up period to cover previous months’ charges. On the other hand, customers who tend to be net consumers annually may prefer monthly billing, so that they can pay a smaller amount on a monthly basis instead of a larger payment once a year.

If you typically see a large true-up bill from PG&E, you’ll likely see a significant true-up bill from Ava too. Some customers don’t mind this, while others prefer to spread payments out over the year.

If you want to remain on Ava’s default option of monthly billing, no action is required. Customers who prefer annual billing for their generation charges may switch to an annual billing plan. You can update your billing plan online or by speaking with an Ava customer service representative (833-699-3223). NEM customers have until February 28/29 each year to make their selection for the next April true-up period.

Yes, Ava customers on NEM have two separate annual true-ups each year.

Ava annual true-up: Covers your electricity generation charges and credits. Ava conducts this true-up each April and pays you for any excess energy you exported to the grid during the previous 12 months.

PG&E annual true-up: Covers your electricity delivery charges and credits. PG&E conducts this true-up based on your interconnection, CCA transition, or move-in month, and the timing varies by customer.

Your Ava annual true-up takes place each April and is a settlement of electricity generation charges and credits from the previous 12-month period. During the April true-up 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 2-4 cents per kWh. 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. After the true-up is completed, your NEM credit balance resets for the new annual cycle. The true-up appears on the Ava generation section of your April PG&E bill.

For balances less than $100, Ava applies a rollover credit to your bill, which is applied toward future Ava generation charges. For balances greater than $100, Ava issues payment through your preferred payment method. Payments are typically sent in June-July following the April true-up and issued through an Ava authorized third-party vendor, Choice Digital.

There are a few common reasons you could have a high true-up bill:

1. Annual billing: PG&E NEM customers are placed on annual billing for their PG&E delivery charges by default. This means that delivery charges roll over until a customer’s PG&E annual true-up. If you are a net energy consumer, you may end up paying an entire year’s worth of PG&E delivery charges at your PG&E true-up date, which can result in a large lump-sum bill. In contrast, Ava customers are generally enrolled in monthly billing by default for generation charges, so the amount owed during the annual Ava true-up is usually smaller.
2. High energy usage during peak hours and at night: Most electricity plans have peak hours, when electricity demand and costs are highest. If most of your energy usage is during these hours (typically 4pm to 9pm), or at nighttime when your solar panels are not producing energy, you’re likely to pay more for electricity consumption. To maximize value, you can try to use most of your electricity during the hours when your solar panels are actively producing power, typically late morning through mid-afternoon. 
3. Transitioning from NEM to SBP: If your account was recently switched over to SBP, the way you’re compensated for your solar exports has changed. 

The best way to determine what’s driving your high true-up bill is to call our customer support center for help walking through your charges. You can speak with an Ava customer service representative by calling 833-699-3223.