Roseville Solar 2.0 is Reducing Solar Electricity Buyback Rates
Over the past few years, with more than $10 million in rebates, Roseville Electric Utility has subsidized the installation of hundreds of residential rooftop solar power systems. Currently, more than 6% of Roseville residents own solar energy systems, and are enjoying significantly reduced or even zeroed-out energy bills.
But, impending changes to how homeowners are compensated for sending unused electricity to the local power grid means that Roseville residents who want to take advantage of the savings offered by solar power need to act now.
Under the net energy metering (NEM) program that California adopted in 2006, utilities were required to offer incentives that allowed residential solar power system owners to reduce or even zero-out their energy bills by selling back electricity to the local electricity grid. But these incentives were only mandated until municipal utilities achieved solar adoption rates of 5%.
Today, more than 6% of Roseville Electric Utility’s customers have installed rooftop solar power systems. In response to achieving the 5% threshold, REU is beginning the process of scaling back their incentives with the rollout of Roseville Solar 2.0, which is scheduled to go live in October of 2018.
Under Roseville Solar 2.0, the per-kilowatt rebate for energy sold back to the grid is going to be reduced by more than 3 cents per kWh.
According to the city of Roseville’s municipal code, the net surplus energy compensated rate is currently $0.0931 per kWh, which is identical to Roseville’s current Tier 1 energy charge. This means that a homeowner that sends back as much electricity as they consume from the grid can zero-out charges for their energy consumption.
However, under Roseville Solar 2.0, the compensation rate will drop to $0.0598 per kWh. Homeowners seeking to zero-out billing for energy consumption will have to send back 55% more electricity than they consume, putting them at a significant disadvantage versus the terms of NEM 1.0.
But for Roseville homeowners who install a system before Roseville Electric Utility’s anticipated launch in October 2018, they will be grandfathered into the current compensation for up to 20 years. By acting quickly, you can be paid more than 50% more for the electricity that you generate than you would be under NEM 2.0.
There are also other important reasons why you shouldn’t wait to go solar. For instance, most California energy consumers will be transitioned to time-of-use pricing over the next couple of years. Under this pricing structure, the energy rate varies depending on the day of the week and time of day. During high-demand periods, prices may increase by several cents per kilowatt-hour. And homeowners will be dismayed to learn that even the lowest time-of-use prices can be 30 to 40 percent higher than their previous flat-rate pricing.
Between Roseville Electric Utility’s changes to their buy-back rates, and the rollout of time-of-use pricing, you can see why we’re urging homeowners in the region not to hesitate when it comes to buying a home solar power system. To learn more about how Roseville Electric Utility’s impending program rollout is going to affect you, visit Capital City Solar on June 21st for our monthly 3rd Thursday event. We’ll answer all your questions about net energy metering, Roseville Solar 2.0, and how you can ensure you are grandfathered into the old energy compensation rate.