Solar Choice program costs

In the Solar Choice program, you will be charged for the solar power you are purchasing and related program charges. In return, you will receive a credit for the standard generation you are no longer purchasing. Read on for a more detailed description of our bill charges and credits:

The Solar Charge is the cost of the renewable solar power. This is calculated as the weighted average cost of the resources serving the program.

The Program Charge is set to fund the program’s marketing and administration costs, provide a credit for the positive value that solar provides to the grid, as well as cover additional energy-related costs to ensure that non-participating customers do not fund the program.

Those additional costs include:

• Costs associated with integrating the new renewable resources with the grid (Renewables Integration Charge). No value has yet been approved by the CPUC for this.
• State-level grid-management costs (California Independent System Operator, CAISO).
• Costs for registering, tracking and retiring Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) in the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WREGIS).
• Resource Adequacy (RA) costs to ensure that there are sufficient generating resources available for anticipated load, locally and on a system basis.
• A credit for the positive value that solar provides in delivering energy to the grid during peak hours (Solar Value Adjustment).
• Program marketing and administration costs.

The Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) is a CPUC-approved figure that ensures stranded generation costs are not shifted to non-participating customers when you switch to PG&E's Solar Choice program. The PCIA value differs by vintage year. Vintage year is based on the date that you begin service on PG&E's Solar Choice program. If you begin service in the first six months of the calendar year (e.g., 2017), you are assigned the prior year's vintage (i.e., 2016). If you begin service on or after July 1, you are assigned the vintage for the current year (2017 in this example). For reference, review the historical values.

The Generation Credit is a credit equal to the average generation rate for your customer class. This credit is to recognize that your renewable energy purchase displaces the charges for the generation portfolio associated with your base rate.

Learn more about the various components described above: review our Historical Rates Table below or check out the program's Price, Terms and Conditions (PDF, 236 KB).

Review potential future changes to the credits and charges in our community renewable rates.