We were very happy to be chosen by Anna Laurel of CBS8 as the San Diego solar company to contribute information to the San Diego CBS News story about the coming changes to Net Energy Metering.
The new story covers why San Diego homeowners should get ahead of the rush as the April 14, 2023 deadline approaches.
The reporter broadcast a live spot early in the day about the upcoming story, then interviewed HES Solar’s CEO, Ross Williams. The story informed homeowners about the approaching SDG&E deadline if they want to get a solar system grandfathered into NEM 2.0 rates. The story made an excellent point about the time involved in submitting an interconnection application. The process to get the application requirements together adds time and includes more than just filling in homeowner information. The NEM application requires a single line diagram of the system.
The story aired locally in San Diego but the changes to Net Energy Metering are state-wide at the big utilities. And interestingly the day of the CBS8 interview and story-airing, March 15, 2023, was the same day that the California Public Utilities Commission held a hearing on SDG&E’s rate hike request.
MORE ABOUT THE SOLAR RUSH
Solar systems allow homeowners to lower their energy costs by selling excess energy back to the utility. The Net Energy Metering changes start after April 14th; they will drop the price the utility will pay homeowners for that electricity. The timeframe that energy use is measured as well as the billing changes are significant. In fact the name of the process will change. Net Energy Metering 3.0 is now being called Net Energy Billing. The overall impact for solar-only systems is a drop in value of the system by approximately 75%.
We hope you saw this solar story on CBS8. We greatly appreciate that CBS8 is getting the word out about the need to act fast on getting solar. We’re also thrilled to be a part of the story to give perspective from a solar company. There is a rush to get solar. This rush could create a logjam for homeowners pushing their system application up against the deadline. As of the posting of this blog there is still time to still qualify for NEM 2.0. But the window is closing on NEM 2.0.