Capped distributed generation rates

“Option S” is a limited rate option available to customers who install storage and take service on one of PG&E’s non-residential “B” rates—B-19 Voluntary (PDF, 1.69 MB), B19 Mandatory (PDF, 1.69 MB) and B-20 (PDF, 1.66 MB).

To be eligible for Option S, the rated capacity of the installed storage system must be equivalent to at least 10% of the customer’s peak demand over the previous 12 months.

Because of limited availability, follow the Option S registration process below to ensure you are eligible and your project will have the requisite capacity reserved for the rate beginning at the submission of an interconnection agreement.

Option S may be a better rate structure for customers with storage. Without Option S, customers on the “B” rates are charged demand charges ($/kW) on a monthly basis.

With Option S, a portion of the demand charge revenue is collected through daily demand charges. Plus, monthly demand charges are lower than those assessed customers who are on the regular “B” rates. This reduces customers’ exposure to higher demand charges that result from infrequent periods of elevated load.

When demand charges are assessed monthly, a period of elevated load within the month sets the applicable demand charges for that month. When demand charges are assessed daily, a period of elevated load will result in higher demand charges for that day, but a customer is able to manage demand charges on other days in that month. This can result in a customer on Option S paying a monthly sum of demand charges that is less than what their monthly demand charges would have been on a regular business rate.

Enrollment on the Option S rate is capped at 150 Megawatts (MW) in PG&E’s service area 1. There are also separate 50 MW caps for each of the three rate categories: B-19 Voluntary, B-19 Mandatory and B-20.

How is Option S enrollment currently tracking toward the cap? The tables below show information on current and reserved Option S capacity. The tables will be updated monthly until enrollment of each rate – B-19 Voluntary, B-19 Mandatory and B-20 – reaches the cap capacity of 50 Megawatts (MW).

To reserve capacity on the Option S rate, email OptionS@pge.com with the following information:

1. Name of Customer of Record for the Service Agreement
2. PG&E Interconnection Application ID
3. Service Agreement ID that will be served by the storage system
4. Selected Rate (B19-V, B19, B20)
5. kW capacity you would like to reserve for the project
6. Attach your customer-signed PG&E Interconnect Agreement

Once submitted, you will receive a confirmation email. Your reservation request will be checked for completeness within five business days. Any missing or erroneous information may result in a delay. Your eligibility for the rate will be checked once your completed request has been verified.

You will be notified of your accepted reservation within 10 business days.

If you were not deemed eligible, you will also be notified within 10 business days.

If you were deemed eligible but there is not sufficient capacity available to reserve for your project, you will be offered a place on the waitlist.

Once your reservation is confirmed, the reserved capacity will be held for 18 months. If your project does not reach PTO within 18 months, you may request up to two (2) six-month extensions. These extensions will not automatically be granted. To request an extension, email OptionS@pge.com prior to the end of the initial 18-month reservation period.

If, after 30 months holding the reservation (18 months initial reservation plus two six-month extensions), the project has still not reached PTO due to a pending service upgrade by PG&E, the reservation will be extended until PG&E performs the needed upgrades and clears the way towards PTO.

If you have a pending PTO and currently have an Option S reservation confirmed, no further action is required until you receive PTO.

Once you have received PTO, reply to the Option S reservation confirmation email you received from PG&E OptionS@pge.com. Include an attached copy of the PTO requesting to enroll on your preferred Option S rate.

PG&E will process your request once we receive your rate enrollment, confirmation of your project Option S reservation and PTO. We will also process your selected rate enrollment of NEM billing within 30 days of your PTO date.

If you have an existing PTO for your project, but do not have an Option S reservation, please email OptionS@pge.com to request an Option S reservation. Please include the following documentation:

1. Permission to Operate (PTO)
2. Name of Customer of Record for the Service Agreement
3. PG&E Interconnection Application ID
4. Service Agreement ID that will be served by the storage system
5. Selected Rate (B19-V, B19, B20)
6. kW capacity you would like to reserve for the project
7. Customer-signed PG&E Interconnect Agreement

Once PG&E has received your request for an Option S reservation, we will process it to ensure available capacity. We will also process your rate enrollment of NEM billing within 30 days of your Permission To Operate (PTO) date.

Table 1 shows the Option S enrollment cap. Table 2 displays the number of applicants and megawatts enrolled as of the date this web page was last updated shown below. Table 3 shows the remaining cap.

Progress toward the Option S Cap in PG&E’s Service Area:

Last updated: 1/31/2023

Any questions about the Option S reservation process or details can be directed to OptionS@pge.com.

“Option R” is a limited rate option available to:

• Customers who install solar, wind, fuel cells or other eligible onsite renewable distributed generation technologies as defined by CSI or SGIP
• Customers with behind-the-meter storage paired with renewable distributed generation
• Customers with standalone storage and Permanent Load Shifting (PLS) technologies
• Customers that take service on one of PG&E’s non-residential “B” rates or non-residential “E” rates of B-19 Voluntary (PDF, 1.69 MB), B-19 Mandatory (PDF, 1.69 MB), B-20 (PDF, 1.66 MB), E-19 Voluntary (PDF, 1.26 MB), E-19 Mandatory (PDF, 1.26 MB), E-20 (PDF, 1.25 MB).

To be eligible for Option R, customers’ systems must be above a minimum size relative to the customer’s peak demand over the previous 12 months. This minimum size varies depending on the type of system:

• Renewable generation systems: 15% minimum net renewable generating capacity
• Permanent Load Shift (PLS) systems: 15% minimum load shift capacity
• Standalone storage systems: 20% minimum discharge capacity

Option R can lower the demand charge and increase the energy charges during the peak and part-peak periods on PG&E non-residential “B” and “E” rate schedules B-19 Voluntary, B-19 Mandatory, B-20, E-19 Voluntary, E-19 Mandatory and E-20.

There is no maximum limitation on eligibility for Option R based on individual customer peak demand if:

1. Customers meet the Option R eligibility requirements for PG&E non-residential “B” and “E” rate schedules.
2. Limitations on the maximum peak demand that may be required on other schedules or programs are not waived by taking service under this Option R.

Follow the Option R registration process below to ensure your project will have the requisite capacity reserved for the rate beginning at the submission of an interconnection agreement.

Option R PG&E non-residential “B” and “E” rate schedules are capped at 600 Megawatts (MW) participation in PG&E’s service areas for the six rate categories: B19 Voluntary, B-19 Mandatory, B-20, E-19 Voluntary, E-19 Mandatory and E-20.

To help stakeholders view how enrollment by PG&E customers in Option R is tracking toward the cap, the tables below show information on current and reserved Option R capacity. The tables will be updated monthly until enrollment of each rate B19 Voluntary, B19 Mandatory, B-20, E-19 Voluntary, E-19 Mandatory, and E-20 reaches the overall participation cap capacity of 600 Megawatts (MW).

PG&E Option R enrollment to date is approximately 257 MW of the 600 MW total. Consistent with PG&E’s current tariffs, these customers are all customers with photovoltaic solar systems (PV).

Last updated: 1/31/2023

To reserve capacity on the Option R rate, email OptionR@pge.com with the following information:

1. Name of Customer of Record for the Service Agreement
2. PG&E Interconnection Application ID
3. Service Agreement ID that will be served by the storage system
4. Selected Rate (B19-V, B19, B20, E19-V, E19, E20)
5. kW capacity you would like to reserve for the project
6. Attach your customer-signed PG&E Interconnect Agreement
7. Select renewable distributed generation technology installed for project (solar, wind, fuel cells, standalone storage, Permanent Load Shifting, Behind-the Meter Storage whether it is paired with such renewable distributed generation, Other eligible onsite technologies as defined by CSI or SGIP)

Once submitted, you will receive a confirmation email and your reservation request will be checked for completeness within five business days. Missing or erroneous information may result in a delay.

Once your request has been verified to be complete, your eligibility for the rate will be checked and you will be notified of your accepted reservation within 10 business days.

If you were not deemed eligible, you will also be notified within 10 business days.

If you were deemed eligible but there is not sufficient capacity available to reserve for your project, you will be offered to be placed on a waitlist.

Once your reservation is confirmed, the reserved capacity will be held for 18 months. If your project does not reach PTO within 18 months, you may request up to two (2) six-month extensions. These extensions will not automatically be granted.

To request an extension, email OptionR@pge.com prior to the end of the initial 18-month reservation period.

If, after 30 months holding the reservation (18 months initial reservation plus two six-month extensions), the project has still not reached PTO due to a pending service upgrade by PG&E, the reservation will be extended until PG&E performs the needed upgrades and clears the way towards PTO.

If you have a pending PTO and currently have an Option R reservation confirmed, no further action is required until you receive the PTO.

Once you have received the PTO, reply to the Option R reservation confirmation email you received from PG&E, OptionR@pge.com. PG&E will process your request once we receive your rate enrollment, confirmation of the project Option R reservation and your PTO. We will also process your rate enrollment of NEM billing within 30 days from your PTO date.

If you have an existing PTO for your project, but do not have an Option R reservation, please email OptionR@pge.com to request an Option R reservation. Please include the following list of documentation:

1. Your Permission to Operate (PTO)
2. Name of Customer of Record for the Service Agreement
3. PG&E Interconnection Application ID
4. Service Agreement ID that will be served by the storage system
5. Selected Rate (B19-V, B19, B20, E19-V, E19, E20)
6. kW capacity you would like to reserve for the project
7. Attach your customer-signed PG&E Interconnect Agreement
8. Select renewable distributed generation technology installed for project (solar, wind, fuel cells, standalone storage, Permanent Load Shifting, Behind-the Meter Storage whether it is paired with such renewable distributed generation, Other eligible onsite technologies as defined by CSI or SGIP)

Once PG&E has received your customer request for an Option R reservation, we will process it to ensure available capacity. We will also process your rate enrollment of NEM billing within 30 days of your Permission To Operate (PTO) date.

Any questions about the Option R reservation process or details can be directed to OptionR@pge.com.

The B1-ST rate for storage is a rate modifier available to customers who install storage and take service under schedule B1.

To be eligible for B1-ST, the rated capacity of the installed storage system must be equal to the greater of either 4.8 kWH or at least 0.05% of the customer's annual usage over the previous 12 months.

The storage system must be interconnected with PG&E to be eligible to enroll. Visit the interconnection portal.

B1-ST may provide a better rate structure for customers with storage. Customers on B1-ST have a “steeper” rate structure. Higher Peak prices and lower Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak prices allow them to discharge their batteries at a premium and charge at a discount. B1-ST has a lower Summer Part-Peak rate and an added Winter Part-Peak rate that doesn’t exist on regular B1.

Additionally, B1-ST has a maximum demand charge ($/kW) each month based on the single highest demand occurring during the combined Peak and Part-Peak period (2:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.). The demand charge will not apply during the Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak period. Customers are encouraged to discharge their batteries when demand could be highest which, combined with the steeper rate structure, can result in lower bills than regular B1.

B1-ST is a pilot program with enrollment capped at 15,000 participants in PG&E's service area¹. To help stakeholders view how enrollment by PG&E customers in B1-ST is tracking toward the cap, the Cap Enrollment Tracker below shows information on current B1-ST enrollment.

This Cap Enrollment Tracker table will be updated monthly until enrollment reaches 8,000 participants, after which it will be updated more frequently. All figures are current as of the date this webpage was last updated.

¹Once the B1-ST Cap is reached, the B1-ST program will be closed and all pending projects that have not yet met the requirements for B1-ST will not be eligible for B1-ST.

Last updated: 1/31/2023