Can you have Solar in Imperial Irrigation District (IID) and save money? The great debate!
So this one is a bit personal to me. I have now had the company rolling for about two years and have been selling solar to customers throughout Southern California. I felt somewhat like a hypocrite not having solar installed on my own home, but I needed to wait a full year to get my own utility usage in order to properly size my system. However, I can report that I now “practice what I preach!” We have solar and it is performing unbelievably well out here in the desert.
So let me save you some reading and cut right to it, if you don’t want to see the discussion below. Can you save money by going solar in IID? The answer is YES! My bill for June of 2019 was $376. My bill for June of 2020 was $168 . Roughly the same amount of usage between the two years. I saved over $208 by going solar in the month of June alone.
In early June of 2020 we installed 36 Panasonic 330 Watt panels and one LG CHEM RESU 10H battery on my home in addition to a solar thermal system (Heliocol panels total of 400 sq ft) to heat our pool. This discussion only concerns the solar electric system and if I generated any savings, so I won’t go into the pool solar thermal system. Before we get into the mechanics of the savings discussion I think I should describe the differences between IID and other utility providers like SoCal Edison or San Diego Gas & Electric.
The biggest difference between IID and the large utility companies is in billing and pricing for electricity. IID does Net Billing while SCE/SDG&E does Net Energy Metering. So what’s the difference? IID’s Net Billing is a straight up charge of 11.7 cents per KWH for energy you take from the grid (consumption). Any excess energy you push back to the grid IID credits you 6.8 cents per KWH (generation). More simply put - as your meter spins forward putting power into your house you pay 11.8 cents and as meter spins backwards with you putting power back to the grid you get 6.8 cents. IID at the end of the month adds up the usage and the credits and simply sends you a bill. You do have the option to shift to annual billing with IID should you choose as you will likely build up credits in the winter and spring months when the temperatures are quite pleasant here in the Coachella Valley. Also note on most homes, IID will need to come out and change your current electric meter to a bi-directional meter. All of this would be handled by us - DesertClean Energy, and coordinated with you on your timeline.
Net Energy Metering - Okay because the “big three” utilities (SCE, SDG&E, PG&E) all are going to Time of Use plans for all residential customers and they are heavily regulated by the CPUC under NEM 2.0 regulation, these utility providers have varying rate structures (SCE is likely around 21 cents per KWH on average where SDGE is likely around 33 cents per KWH on average) and both have variable Time of Use plans. But they all comply with NEM 2.0 requirements which state that when you produce excess power at a certain time of day, the customer will retain the “retail price” credit of that electricity. That credit is good for a year. At the end of the year on your “True Up” date you will add up your credits and debits and either pay the utility provider any overage or you will get a refund of the excess power you generated. However, there is a little catch. Any excess power you get from the utility provider will be paid to you at the wholesale rate ( probably 3 or 4 cents per KWH). Also you will still always have to pay a monthly connection fee and any non-by passable charges. It’s usually about $10-$15 per month to be connected to any of the “Big Three’s” grid.
I hope the above discussion makes some sense to you. But this is really about IID and did I save any money. So here we go. This is what happened in June of 2019 and June of 2020 with and without Solar.
June of 2019 Bill - WITHOUT SOLAR
Billing period was 30 days - 6/19/19 thru 7/18/19
Total usage 2930 KWH for a cost of $376.84
Total of State Mandated Charges was $21.33 (included in total above)
June of 2020 Bill - WITH SOLAR
Billing period was 32 days - 6/20/2020 thru 7/19/2020
Total usage (listed below) at a cost of $168.22
Net Consumption - 1604 KWH
Net Generation - 686 KWH
Total of State Mandated Charges was $12.23 (included in total above)
TAKEAWAY - Total Saved - $208.62 from June of 2019
Cost per day in June of 2019 for electricity $12.56
Cost per day in June of 2020 for electricity $5.26 - saving roughly 58% from previous year per day.
Of note - the June 2020 bill had two more chargeable days for the month than 2019 and also note because I used less power coming from the grid my state mandated charges were roughly cut in half!
My solar installation was completed by DESERTCLEAN ENERGY in roughly three days to include a battery and a solar thermal system along with the PV panels. Easily passed inspection with the city and we quickly coordinate the permission to operate with IID and the swap out to the bi-directional meter. The savings is significant even with a Net Billing concept utilized by IID. DesertClean Energy would be honored to provide you with at least a simple discussion on solar in the IID utility area. I think we can generate you some great savings utilizing the Direct Installation process described elsewhere in another blog post and on the website. Please give us a call or shoot us an email at assessment@desertcleanenergy.com.