wsbca
Well-known member
GroundLoop said:Wow, that's a lot of info wsbca.
Is this all finalized, or still in flux? I was hoping to keep my DR rate plan. Are you saying that EV Project mandates otherwise?
It seems finalized(ish) - SDG&E controls the 1000 EV project home chargers for San Diego by way of their approved application to put them all, randomly, on the 3 experimental tariffs, and I have been told in no uncertain terms that this will be done with a second meter (TOU), downstream of your main (analog, in my case) meter (from which the second meter usage will be unwound in the billing process), then the second meter usage will be billed using the experimental TOU tariff. No mechanism by which we can use our generated excess to offset that bill. So we can stay on DR for our houses, but the EVSE has to be on the experimental tariff. I do not believe that this is in the spirit of the EV Project as a whole, but it seems to be the reality for San Diego. I think they are mistaken in thinking that PV households (whether current, or planning to go that way soon) will be such an insignificant minority, and it's unfortunate that they can't accommodate it and still do a valid rate experiment. I definitely feel like I'm being penalized for doing exactly what the EV Project, the Leaf, and the push for clean energy that relieves pressure on the grid are trying to promote. Sure, the free charger and L3 port are a big perk, but the Project should be designed such that all types of prospective EV users can participate on an equal basis (relative to their existing energy choices), and that's not the case. Specifically, the fact that the random assignment can so significantly impact your costs exclusive of any behavior choices is not right... You and I could both behave exactly the same (making the optimal choice of charging at super-off-peak) and generate the same surplus from our PV, and drive the exact same miles etc. and one of us could end up paying $500 more out of pocket over the 2 year life of the project (or will deprive the project of data by charging on level 1 as much as they can). Not a particularly good experiment, for us. If PV users are in such a small minority, they should put us on a different protocol, one that might get them some useful info...and if we're not such a small minority, then they should adjust the experiment accordingly - eg. assign all PV users to the large-gap tariff and then analyze that data accordingly. I'm as concerned about the impact this might have on people who are still considering PV to go with their new Leaf as I am about those of us who have already bitten the bullet.
I recommend that you and anyone else caught in the PV catch-22 at least have a chat with SDG&E (you can initiate contact via [email protected]) and/or with the regional EV Project coordinator and let them know your feelings, so they know we are out here.