Fees & Charges for Self-Generation

Along with the costs of purchasing, installing, maintaining and running a generator at your home or business, you'll want to take into account potential costs you may incur related to interconnecting your generator with PG&E's electrical grid. Fees and charges have been broken out below for both pre-installation, or upfront costs, and post-installation, or ongoing costs.

 

Here are some of the upfront costs you might expect from PG&E, if applicable:

• Interconnection Request (application) fees: Required by PG&E when you submit your application.
• Study/review fees/deposits: These are to cover PG&E's costs associated with reviewing your planned installation to ensure that our electrical system can continue to operate safely and reliably after your generator is connected to it.
• Interconnection facility and system modification and ongoing maintenance costs: Generators connected at your home or business can impact the operation of the electrical system even if it is connected on the wires within your facility. You are responsible for the costs of special interconnection equipment, equipment or system modifications, and ownership/maintenance of such equipment or modifications needed to ensure that the electrical system can operate safely and reliably with your generator connected to it. Some exceptions apply regarding the costs for system modifications.

You can expect to pay ongoing costs in addition to your existing otherwise applicable electric or gas rates when you install a generator to serve your own electrical needs: 

• Standby charges: PG&E is required by law to deliver energy to you automatically and instantaneously if your generator is not operating because of an unexpected outage, scheduled maintenance or the need for electricity that exceeds the capacity of your generator. You are billed for this service as a fixed monthly fee based on the size of your generator.
• Non-bypassable charges: These charges, required by law, are billed to all customers, including those who install generators to serve their own electricity requirements. They cover the utility's costs associated with programs such as low-income ratepayer assistance and energy efficiency as well as nuclear decommissioning once plants are shut down. These charges appear as a fixed monthly fee on your bill based on the size and operating characteristics of your generator.

See additional information about ongoing charges and exemptions.

If you'd like to obtain preliminary information about the existing PG&E facilities to which you propose to connect your generator to help you anticipate potential costs, submit a Pre-Application Request to PG&E. View the Pre-Application Request form.

You'll also want to consider investigating the benefits that may be available to you through applicable state incentive programs.

Of course, if you can't find what you need, you can always contact PG&E. Our EGI team members are happy to help. You'll find contact information on the pages specific to your type of project, or email gen@pge.com.