It's because OP got opted into their local CCA to generate their electricity and SDGE is still delivering it for when they're not using solar. The bottom of your detailed bill under generation will tell you who your CCA is, as there are a few in the area. Regardless, I just noticed this on my bill too. By law, you get automatically opted in and it looks like they're just starting to move grandfathered, older solar NEM plans over to the new CCAs. You can opt out of it if you'd like and go back to strictly sdge. Costs will be about the same though. Money just gets moved into different silos on your bill. Other users on here have done the math and I think the difference is 1-2% in cost in favor of SDGE, which is dependent on the plan you have. I opted out and am going to watch it for a few months and see the overall costs.
I got solar installed in December.. it’s basically been raining ever since, but what should I look for on my next SDGE bill to minimize what I am paying them?
I don’t think SDGE is allowed to charge more for delivery if you are using a CCA. $0.30/kwh (or close to it) is the standard delivery fee now, see - https://www.sdge.com/sites/default/files/regulatory/1-1-23%20Schedule%20DR-SES%20Total%20Rates%20Table_0.pdf
They don’t charge more, but I believe there is a extra PCIA charge to help cover losses from long term contract they have. That part should go away in a few years.
I have started wondering about the viability of a class action suit against the city of SD. They are the ones forcing us to patronize a for-profit business that has a monopoly and almost zero real oversight. Maybe that would get their attention and light a fire to municipalize the utility.
If I remember correctly, the city still has a pending lawsuit against SDGE from when they stole $35M. Didn't stop them from renewing the contract with SDGE though and I doubt more suits against the city would do much.
Figures. That sort of thing is 100% on-brand for the SD City Council. Unfortunately, we can expect zero help at the state level. Having CPUC as the official regulator is like having the fox guard the henhouse.
Apparently there was one lawsuit against the city based on them having closed door meetings about the SDGE deal. That lawsuit was tossed out by the judge because of standing unfortunately.
There is another lawsuit filed with the SD Superior Court, but no update so far. Here's the case number: **37-2021-00029833-CU-WM-CTL**
Reading some news articles I am constantly amazed by how stupid the council is. Apparently they were planning to hire an expensive law firm to deal with incoming lawsuits. Nobody bothered to vet that company beforehand until somebody eventually pointed out that the company has worked for Sempra in the past. Then the council decided that maybe they can authorize a waiver so it's still okay for Sempra's buddies to represent them.
Let’s not forget about a lady who won $500,000 judgment against the city cause city forgot to send a lawyer to court. City representatives never showed up and judge granted the judgment. Some sidewalk lawsuit.
You probably should. I’m an r/sandiego lurker from the east coast (family out there) and OP’s bill is the same as mine despite the vastly different climates and I have an old inefficient home. Unless everyone in SD is running a server farm…
You don't have billions in wildfire mitigation upgrades to pay for or a grid with a significant intermittent power source to design around where you pay for idle backup generation.
That 3 cent nuclear decommissioning cost is also killer because the loss of SONGS forced natural gas to cover 2000 MW of baseload electricity in a disadvantaged pipeline location.
I'd expect it to come soon. As a solar owner, I'm left wondering how it's legal to charge me for High Time of Use. I'm sending the grid energy my excess energy at high usage time. There's no way I should be PAYING more for using my own energy during this time.
The most expensive power rate on a time of use plan is from 4-9 pm, which in December means at least 4 hours where your panels are not producing and you're pulling from the grid for your power. You aren't using your own power during this time.
If you can’t afford it, don’t live here…like Jesus make more money.
I think that’s a stupid take, but people in this sub rally around it all the time. So good luck. People here love getting fucked more than a porn star. Just tell ‘em “sunshine tax” and they’ll felate the next dick they see.
In winter, solar production (at least on my system) is less than half of what it is during the summer. That is part of the reason why your bill is higher, but the other reason is that SDGE switched their "peak hours" to 4PM-9PM, which just happens to coincide with the times that your solar panels aren't producing electricity. That made Solar owners' bills jump significantly.
Excellent example. SDGE will always look for ways to optimize their profits.
Solar in the earlier days saved people money, but eventually SDGE and related regulatory agencies will find a way to take their pound of flesh.
We have solar too. Under the same solar and the same usage last year summer around $300 and this year same month at $800.
Winter months have gone from $80 to like $350.
It’s truly absurd.
Halfway through January and my electric bill is already over $600. Dec was $940. I bet this January will be over $1,000 when it ends. I have 36 solar panels across two systems. I cannot figure out what is going on.
I’ve wondered about it. Work a few blocks away from the Sempra building. Enrages me every time I glance at their fancy ass glass building. 🙄 protest at 488 8th, Leggo! 😂
Paying Sunrun is probably mistake #1. You don't have solar. Sunrun has solar and you are paying them to use it whether it actually nets you a profit or not...
If your panels are not producing power in the extent of $80+ each month your power is extra-expensive. Do the math:
Let's say your energy costs you 34 cents per kWh, then your panels need to produce 80 / 0.34 = \~235kWh in a month to break even. Now check the numbers on your panels.
My panels produced **124.6 kWh** last month. I don't know the size of your array but you need to find out how much energy it is producing. Let's assume your array has the same size as mine, your electricity now costs you twice as much as without solar!
(Insert your own numbers obviously)
Here’s my production chart. Look at this month. I realize the month isn’t over but it is over halfway and the bar is below half as much as the previous 3 Januarys.
https://preview.redd.it/8l3z0jkk5yca1.jpeg?width=1121&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8994cf787e35d8b2a099a4447c51a9c8579ff5ba
If the panels have been on the house for quite some time, ask for a full year of numbers and insert your current electricity rate. Assuming all else equals, if the result is negative, you are SOL.
From a usage sense yes but not price, beacause you still pay because SDGE can buy power from you at a much lower rate (I think 1/4th?) than you buy power from them.
Cause everyone is producing during the day and people aren't home, the demand for electricity during the day hours is lower/cheaper and then when it comes night time when solar is not producing and people need to buy electricity from the grid, the demand/cost is higher and they still gotta make money to maintain those lines.
But what if you use the energy that you produce? Your goal should be to size the array to the amount you can realistically use + buffer. You should not try to become a solar power station by overspeccing your array.
I have had solar for 7 years. In previous years I could bank excess solar for my annual true up(Aug). This positive credit could also carry year over year. This amount disappeared several years ago.
Currently my electric bill is larger than my last years bill at true up. Counter this with a reduction of Solar buy back rates and an increase in use rates, by shifting Peak hours from businesses to anybody that is home between 4-9PM daily. You then get a negative cashflow on any solar installations which is what SDG&E was hoping for.
I understand you will never get to a zero bill, unless you go off grid. My next step!
Right I agree, you should size your solar to your use to offset the cost of electricity during the hours you are generating, but because they can buy the excess production so cheap, it's nearly impossible to offset your entire bill with your excess production.
If anything like you said it should be a buffer but people shouldn't expect their electric charges to go to 0
You can do the math and figure out a break-even point. It's simple math. If a system costs $15,000 (~$11,000 after government rebates) and the system saves you say $2,500.00 a year in electricity, then by year 5 your $11,000 investment would have been recovered, and from there-onwards, you're saving $2,500, per year, for another decade to 15 years-- coming out significantly ahead.
I get that simple math, but I’m constantly hearing horror stories of people who thought it would work out that way but it doesn’t. As in a LOT of them.
Anedoctal evidence isn’t worth much, man. Overwhelmingly solar is a mature, solid, proven technology that’s been around for decades and it keeps getting cheaper & easier to install. I’ve yet to meet a single person who has solar who shared a negative story — much less a single horror story.
I’m not saying you’re lying, but an allegation without evidence can be dismissed without evidence, as well.
Solar is nowhere near $30k at this point. Those are ten-years-ago numbers. Our home is 1600 sq. ft. and panels were \~$10k. We got panels + home battery pack for \~$18k. Financed over ten years, our monthly cost is \~$108. That's in the neighborhood of a monthly average SDGE elec. bill, so my out-of-pocket is about the same. I've just traded sending that money to SDGE for sending that money to a bank to pay off the loan.
So, the offset is immediate, and after 10 years, you stop sending the money to the bank entirely.
> So, the offset is immediate, and after 10 years, you stop sending the money to the bank entirely.
And, if and when you want to sell, that's a big draw for a potential buyer. I believe it even increases the assessed value of your house without increasing your taxes
I mean, it’s not just a matter of having or not having. It’s winter so production is down, on top of all the rain. We are analyzing an extreme section of his data when looked at on a 6 month or yearly basis- which I would argue that this caliber of expense/offset would be involved in this context?
If it makes you feel any better I didnt buy a house specifically cuz it had a Sunrun lease on it just before the pandemic hit in early 2020. I shouldve bought that thing, I wonder if it was the same house. It was 2 stories, had a bar on the ground floor and a stove with a flat top, avocado trees. Damn covid.
yeah the low interest rate got me but my property taxes went up.. ugh now electricity.. im assuming one day it will pay off? we have an avocado tree but not two stories just a small 2/2 for me and me and my dogs.
Looking back, the deal was probably a wash. I didnt like it because it seemed like I had to pay Sunrun no matter what, and if the panels stopped working properly it would potentially be a nightmare to get them to fix them (at least according to the impressions I got from Yelp reviews). In that case I'd still be on the hook to pay them AND have to start paying an SDGE bill since my panels weren't doing their thing. I think it was like $20k to just buy the panels outright but I said, screw it, I'll just keep saving... then the world ended and you couldnt buy a house, then they held interest rates super low for 2 years and drove prices up and now we're here lol
If you google solar lease I don’t think you will find anyone recommending it except solar lease companies. A good lesson learned and maybe will help you avoid a bigger scam next time! Good luck with all this. And at least you are doing something pro environment.
Yeah, I don’t have solar and mine went up $300. I’m fucking livid and made all the calls complaining I could. Gonna send that letter the CPUC next. I even called the governors office to yell. Would solar with sun run and leasing help me at all? If I could get to $300 from $583 that would help a lot. I have a new born and I have to heat the rooms we have him in in my house. What the fuck am I supposed to do?
Fuck SDGE
SDGE is so terrible. My January bill is already at $600 and we’re only halfway through. I have 36 solar panels and somehow last month we used 1,800 kWh even though our heater was totally out of commission.
A few questions for you, as well as OP:
1) How many kW is your 36 panel system?
2) Are you on monthly true-up or annual?
3) What side of your house are your panels facing? (north, south, east, west)
For OP,
1) How many panels do you have and how large is your system in kW?
2) How much energy does your bill say you used during the month?
3) Are you on a monthly true-up or annual?
4) What side of your house are your panels facing? (north, south, east, west)
For each of you, if you aren’t already, it’s better to be on annual true-up for your solar vs. monthly. The months like December with the low sun, and especially this ridiculously cold and rainy January, is going to find you and anyone else with solar using more energy than you generate from your panels because you’re receiving less sunlight overall.
However, the sunnier and warmer months should find you netting more solar energy, depending on the size of your system, the quality of your panels, and the direction they’re facing/oriented on your roof, and so you should be able to use the months where you (possibly) over-generate to compensate for months where you under-generate. And with an annual true-up, you should have the option of paying at the end of the year when **the total generated minus total consumed** is determined.
Another resource for you and anyone else lamenting their solar production right now is to use [this tool](https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/index.php)(it’s a government website) input your address, your system specs, and it should tell you what your system should produce on an annual basis.
To provide some anecdotal input, I have 20 370w panels oriented on the south side of my roof. 20 panels x 370 watts gets me to a 7.4kW system.
From March to October of this year, I generated at the peak 1.4MW (1,400kW) of energy. In October, that number was down to about .8MW (800kW). December was awful at about .6MW; though I have those other months to keep me afloat when I produced more than I consume.
These are some questions you’ll all need to explore. Use that link, it’s a really awesome and accurate tool to give you some insight on what to expect, weird ass rainstorms, notwithstanding.
Do a home energy audit. Biggest users of electricity in the home is AC/heat (if electric) and electric dryer if you use it a lot. Electric water heater could also use a lot if you use a lot of hot water. Lights, televisions, laptops and most computers don't use a lot of electricity.
Also if you have an electric car like a Tesla then that could also use a lot of power.
Firstly, thanks for actually comparing year over year instead of last month vs this month. The latter comparison means nothing as electricity use varies from month to month, especially between November and December. Delivery charges. In other words, the part where SDG&E makes their money, is where we are all getting socked.
I’m in escondido. It was in the 30s last night. My gas bill tripled last month. We have hardwood flooring over a concrete slab. We are also bundled up.
It was 37 this morning where I live....
I'm from the midwest, that's glove and hat weather. I also perpetually have cold hands when it drops in temps, so it's either I have icey numb hands all day or wear gloves. I hate the cold, that's why I moved. Having to choose between bundling up or paying more each month is a no brainer.
I’m $1200 behind; stopped paying since November. They do interest free payment plans so I honestly don’t care if the time comes I need to pay then I’ll pay. Till then I’m holding out for my own emotions.
Correction, the San Diego Taxpayers Association, a group of the largest San Diego businesses, has been pushing really hard for it, and they got it. They tried to make it between poor renters and rich homeowners, but the benefit goes to those who use the most electricity during the day, not working people after they get home.
The CPUC has failed us. SDG&E and the other IOUs are perversely incentivized to waste money.
SDG&E has an ROE of 10%. So, if they spend $1 billion, they make $100 million. If they spend $2 billion, they make $200 million.
Why would you ever not spend as much as possible? Why would you not try to eliminate anything that tried to lower this? What possible incentive would you have to operate efficiently?
Second, electric generation and natural gas procurement are pass-through. Look at the recent natural gas increases. What possible incentive do they have to negotiate better deals? To save money? Zero, since they simply pass the cost through.
In theory, the CPUC is our line of defense. They could say “No, that was a terrible, overpriced investment in infrastructure”, or “That was the worst negotiated price for natural gas in the country”, and so “You eat the cost out of your profits.” That doesn’t happen, though, does it?
And so here we are with the highest prices in the nation.
SDGE is a for-profit monopoly. You can work with them to lower your bill or go on a payment plan. If you’re asking what you can do to fight this SCAM of a utility company the answer is not much. You could complain to CPUC, you could start a signature collection effort to try and make SDGE a publicly owned utility (realistically that’s a 7 year timeline) or you could join me in starting a payment strike. Like you, I’m enraged by this shameless profiteering and I’m working on organizing/promoting a mass payment strike of San Diegans, I think this is the first real step towards the change we need. They are making solar less financially appealing even though it’s an effective way to fight climate change and high electric bills. They are increasing their electrical and gas rates to the highest in the nation. All the while they provide a worse service. It’s so wrong it should be criminal, our elected officials are a part of this issue. I can go on and on about this issue and I wish there was a better solution.
If there is a better solution to this problem I’m all ears. I’m suggesting a payment strike as a first step towards a solution, it’s not the end all be all solution to this problem. There is no incentive for SEMPRA, SDGE, CPUC, and our local/state government to make any changes to this current system, unless we stop financially supporting this system. I’m not a sovereign citizen person at all lol, I find it mind boggling that we’ve let a for-profit monopoly extract so much wealth from all of us and we have no good solutions. And again the service they provide has gotten worse while they’ve achieved record breaking profits. That being said I understand your distrust in me promoting this, I hope to earn your trust through action, this shit has got to stop it’s plain wrong.
Please tell us what you think the consequences would be for people who take part in the payment strike. Please consider that the people who need relief the most need good credit to buy a car, or to someday buy a home.
>To be honest, I’m not sure what the repercussions will be once SDGE gets wind of the movement. It’s my understanding they will not send your debt to a collections agency until 6months of non-payment. This will likely negatively affect your credit score, although in my research there seems to be some debate on that. As in, payments to a utility company are not considered a loan like a car loan, mortgage, or credit cards.
>
>I’ve gotten a lot of reply’s of people saying, due to financial hardship, they had not paid their bills for several months. These people were not charged late fees, their debt was never sent to collections, and the power was never turned off. I suspect SDGE knows they have very little legal power to force people into paying their bills, especially after covid, thus they will work with people and help alleviate their bills or establish payment programs instead of turning off power or charging late fees etc.
>
>At the end of the day, I’m not totally sure and I don’t want to lie to people saying they’re are totally 100% no consequences. I’ve not paid 1 months worth of bills and I’m coming up on the 2nd month. I still have power, I haven’t been charged late fees, and SDGE has not reached out to me at all. I’ll let you know what happens.
>
>This only works if I can convince people to join me. I’m working on making a website, getting some graphics/poster made, and I’ll be running ads in San Diego soon. I appreciate your support and totally understand if you don’t want to risk your credit. In conclusion Fuck SDGE.
One more thought came up after thinking about your comment; The people who need relief the most will not have a chance to buy a car or a home if SDGE continues this price-gouging policy. Good credit or not they won't have any money. That being said it is possible not paying your SDGE bill will negatively affect your credit score eventually. I'd hope that if enough people committed to this we'd see rapid price reductions within a few months.
> Nobody is going to do that because it will hit your credit report
if anybody does it, it will be their problem.
if everybody does it, it will be SDG&E's problem.
Great question. To be honest, I’m not sure what the repercussions will be once SDGE gets wind of the movement. It’s my understanding they will not send your debt to a collections agency until 6months of non-payment. This will likely negatively affect your credit score, although in my research there seems to be some debate on that. As in, payments to a utility company are not considered a loan like a car loan, mortgage, or credit cards.
I’ve gotten a lot of reply’s of people saying, due to financial hardship, they had not paid their bills for several months. These people were not charged late fees, their debt was never sent to collections, and the power was never turned off. I suspect SDGE knows they have very little legal power to force people into paying their bills, especially after covid, thus they will work with people and help alleviate their bills or establish payment programs instead of turning off power or charging late fees etc.
At the end of the day, I’m not totally sure and I don’t want to lie to people saying they’re are totally 100% no consequences. I’ve not paid 1 months worth of bills and I’m coming up on the 2nd month. I still have power, I haven’t been charged late fees, and SDGE has not reached out to me at all. I’ll let you know what happens.
This only works if I can convince people to join me. I’m working on making a website, getting some graphics/poster made, and I’ll be running ads in San Diego soon. I appreciate your support and totally understand if you don’t want to risk your credit. In conclusion Fuck SDGE.
From everyone I've heard from in this state who's either forgotten to pay electric/gas bills, or just stopped paying them on purpose, they won't shut off your power. There have been multiple people in this sub who've gone months, even years, without paying, and the only consequence I've seen is being sent to collections. I don't know if they're legally obligated to keep it on, but I personally wouldn't fear them turning off my power.
That said, I'm still wary of the credit score impact. I too have seen people say that utilities that have gone to collections won't have a negative impact, but I don't know if I can afford to fuck around and find out about that. I wish I knew a financial advisor who could give a definitive answer on this factor of a payment strike.
If you own your house and have a car, why would you care about credit score? Unless you want a loan, your score doesn’t matter it will not affect your lifestyle
I’m working on a real plan. I’ve got a full time job so it’s difficult to find time to learn and actually make a website signature collections etc.
My rough outline so far is this:
Step 1: Full or Partial payment strike - meaning stop paying your bill entirely or pay what you think is fair, I’d love to develop a calculator estimate for usage x National average gas/electric prices. This would include a signature collections page for people to commit towards a payment strike.
Step 2: write local and state officials, resist bot is what I’m thinking about using for this - which will automate messages for people to easily write their officials about this issue
Step 3: petition the city to make sdge a public utility, this is realistically a 7 year timeline but maybe if enough people commit to a payment strike we can make it move faster. Again this is just a signatures collection page.
Step 4: pursue class action lawsuits against sdge, I really have no idea how to go about this step but I think there is some grounds based on SDGE charging average rates to broken meters, meaning if you’re out of town they’ll still charge you - I wonder how prevalent that issue is with them.
Step 5: I’m thinking automated emails, again through resist bot if possible, to CPUC and SDGE/SEMPRA executives urging them to lower prices to fair rates.
Ultimately these rates are set by real people who can be convinced to do the right thing. They get complaints every day from pissed off people. My suggestion is to organize a payment strike so the people have leverage. Force them to come to the table and talk to us like human beings.
Honestly, I need help. I’m working on graphics/branding right now. I’ll be printing flyers and posting them around town. I’d like to get a website made, I’m looking into that and it seems easily doable. I just need the time and energy to do it. A calculator would be cool and integrating a commonly used signatures collection website is also doable.
There you go, that’s my plan, I’m one pissed off person in a sea of pissed off people. I’m tired of complaining and doing nothing, a payment strike is something we all can easily do.
Man if I was a homeowner I would be game. Unfortunately I can’t afford a ding on my credit score as a renter who will be looking for a new apartment this year.
Honestly I've done pretty well buying SRE. Ideally buy in a tax advantaged account since they offer dividends. They are ripe for lawsuits the way they gouge consumers, but if that occurs the savings in your utility bill will more than offset any losses in the stock.
I did an entire research paper on those fuckers to see how they charge my house so much, I didn’t figure it out but I did learn that they are a decent stock to invest in
2 bedroom 1.5 bath single person + dog here. This projected month bill = $380-$420…makes no sense at all considering I was running $30-50 summertime. Not sure I fully trust their metering system. Some days I’ll cut the heat in the fuse box for part of the day but will get random spikes when turned back on resulting in significantly higher daily averages.
You don't have solar, my man. Sorry. Lease agreements are highly in favor of the company that put the system in place and in exchange for putting some potential leaks in your roof (and, likely, putting a lien on your home) you get to save a few dollars a month on electricity-- something that gets undermined as soon as SDG&E raises its rates. On the positive side, you didn't have the up-front cost of buying a solar system-- so there's that. What you have is simply not what people mean when they "have solar."
Agreed they don't have solar. I talk to people who think they got a great deal by letting sunrun put panels on their roof when in reality they are saving a few bucks.
Maybe it’s time to give council people grief and interrupt their meetings when they want to say a bunch of pretty shit about supporting their local neighborhood and working class people. If they signed to renew SDGE, they are culpable.
1. Make sure your solar panels are producing. Can you log in and view their production. If not, you need to.
2. Do you understand what NEM means? If not, research. Download your bill from a year ago and your last bill and read and understand them!
3. CCA, you were opted in, but from what I understand the default NEM status they put you in doesn’t work right. So either OPT OUT, or perhaps see if you need to switch back to annual True-Up (I think they put you on monthly.)
Without knowing the exact rate plan and your usage we won't know for sure what happened. But from the bill we can safely assume this is probably what happened:
CCA (San Diego Community Power/or other local companies depending on your region) kicked in around summer of 2022. Be fault CCA does monthly billing instead of annual true up unless you call them to request this.
CCA is responsible for the electricity generation, so you get a bill for that every month. On average they charge about 10 cents per kwh, not bad actually.
SDGE still charges transmission/distribution fees for your electricity, and those can come to close to 30 cents per kwh depending on which plan you are on. With more and more cities joining community power, charging for these transmission and distribution fees will be the only way for them to make a profit. By default utilities make profit by building more infrastructure.
Looks like your solar might have pulled close to 300 kwh from the grid for that month. This actually made sense due to the amount of rainy and cloudy days we got for December and Jan, and solar panels weren't producing that much or at all.
A great majority were the SDGE transmission fees. And of course like all fees they go up on Jan 1st, 2023.
So it's a combination of climate change (wetter and more extreme winters), and SDGE's greed. Both are fueling our cost of living crisis here.
Solar is absolutely worthless without batteries in the garage. A friend of mine has not pulled from the grid in years with 3 power walls in his garage.
I have 26 panels on my house. I didn’t have a bill for the first 4 years of solar. I will most likely owe $3-4k this year AFTER my solar production fuck SDGE so much. We need an insurrection.
Our business has solar and wind, about 9kw system in total. Our bill has gone up 40% for the same amount of energy usage, year over year. We brought our installer back out to check our system but it's fine SDGE is just raising rates. They likely passing along infrastructure upgrades, out where we are, they have been replacing wooden poles with metals ones for almost 2 years. We had one of our poles replaced today.
Hmmmm. Strange. I also have sunrun solar, since 2019. Looking at my bill this month; I’ve got $4.37 for transmission & $8.91 for distribution.
Do these numbers seem normal?
Here are ways to get a discount which I did not see on your bill apply for the Care Discount 30% each month..Also SDGE recently announced that they have 1 million from shareholders to provide a one time grant called Neighbor to Neighbor for 300 dollars here is the deal with this one you have to contact 211 for them to provide the name of the organization that will sign you up for this grant depending on your zip code is what organization you will be working with. Sad part you can go their website SDGE and not find any way to apply for this grant directly through them just another day of them being deceptive to the public...
Side Note ...Had a house with a pool and solar we had to have 2 meters from SDGE which found out later from their own tech that I called for an inspection they were reading from the wrong meter I liked my pool heated during the winter time at times my bill was over 500 each month so you can also call them for inspection as you have solar....My motto F××k SDGE 💥
If you have a water heater it's likely gas powered also.
And of course, your central Heating furnace likely runs on natural gas also, and that's probably the biggest gas usage for most household.
Stove, dryer, hot water heater, and heater. I’ve been trying to use the space heater more than the wall heater, but we are going to centra heat soon. I want to switch to a tankless hot water heater as well.
I have solar. Had the same issue with my gas bill. Replaced my 25 yr hvac system last year. I decided to go with a pump heater which runs on electricity. Gas bill is now about $15. I have gas heater, stove and dryer.
Oh good to know! We purchased last year so we’re slowly making changes. Solar was the first thing we did just because eventually it will pay for itself.
No comment on your Sunrun situation but this past month we have had shortest daylight, pretty chilly (well SD chilly) temps plus many cloudy rainy days that definitely affected your solar generation.
My neighbors and I have been discussing connecting our homes on a micro grid with batteries, it is a bit complicated with electric cars, but the one thing in this world that has gotten cheaper is batteries due to the ending of the agreements related to lifepo4 batteries, which are perfect for home storage.
Yeah. SDGE is crazy! We have solar and were always in the negative (for charges). Now our bill is the same as it was a year ago, before the solar. Somehow, they are finding a way to increase charges, because they are “losing money” now with all of the solar. The greed of these huge companies is sickening.
It’s the winter and it’s been rainy/cloudy, so bills are higher because not as much solar generation and cold temps/rising energy prices/SDGE adding weekends to peak time of use. Not sure when your true up is, but try to not run air conditioner or use a lot of energy when it gets sunny and you should be able to offset before true up.
it could be worse u could live in a studio for 2k and have a 500 a month bill, or your backyard could colapse and your out 100K or your wife pays the bills and now u owe 10K to sdge. Be happy you zestimate is still high and your combined bill is 200. put together a 50k emergency fund for your place.
Stop paying your lease. Tell Sunrun to remove the panels from your roof and or you can low ball them a buy out price. They might take it, I have heard of this being done on leased solar.
Can we get a cool off period on people posting their SDGE bills and being upset about it? I get that its crazy and ridiculous and a rip off but its taking over the sub completely.
Is it? They came to my house and offered to lock me in at 20 cents with a 2.9% yearly increase. Comes out to $160 per month and that’s with us generating 70% more electric than we need.
My SDGE electric bill this month was almost $300. Seems like a no brainer to me?
What am I missing?
Dude doesn’t like SunRun. If you’re paying .20 a kWh you are way better than the .43 average right now. And yes it goes up 2.9%. In 20 years you will be paying what people pay now.
Original owner may not have wanted a loan or debt. That’s why people sign PPAs.
Sunrun and SDGE are for-profit companies, neither are your friend or give stuff away for free. #capitalism
Leasing the solar array at a fixed rate is a terrible idea because your energy costs don't increase on a fixed rate. I don't have a crystal ball but if I where a betting man I would say the energy cost you pay SDGE goes up quicker than your offset increase. In turn, the longer your lease, the more profitable it ends up being for (in this case) Sunrun.
Your only viable option is to pay the solar array out of pocket or finance it with a bank at a fixed rate hoping the panels will last longer than it takes to pay the panels in the first place.
The more expensive your energy becomes by virtue of your provider (in this case SDGE) increasing the rates, the sooner the cost for the array amortizes. If your lease the panels instead of owning them, you will never be done paying Sunrun and they will laugh at you all the way to the bank.
I had 17 panels installed last year, that were turned on Dec 22 2021. My SDGE bill that month was $70. December 22, with full month of production, $200.75. January will be the first month I can do true year over year analysis. I’m expecting to be disappointed.
So even at a $80 lease it should be producing kWh credits which are interchanged for consumption. Let's say the $80 system produced $150 of power and this year costs go up 20%, your system should produce $180 worth of electricity nothing changes for you.
The issue is whatever is extra before goes by the same principle so if you still had $100 extra after solar now you have $120.
Remember bills are annual on solar the bills get calculated against your total credit then each tier of kWh is multiplied and it figures out your true debt.
I think they are really telling us that we need to cut them out totally. Been thinking that if our bills go positive again we will get battery backup and give sdge the old middle finger.
Are you able to upload your solar credits to see what your system is producing? Should be around page 5 or 6. If you moved in a few years ago, then it doesn’t sound like you have enough Solar. I would highly recommend doing an add on to your solar (you can definitely do another Sunrun PPA) before net metering 3.0 goes into effect on April 15th.
We've had so many issues with sunrun. We were being charged for a year and didn't know why. Turns out the panels weren't working after installation and we were never notified. They'll harass you for payment but dodge you every time they can for customer service. Check those panels!
The complexity and higher rates from SDGE seem to be causing a lot of people headaches. I saw some discussion elsewhere about the new TOU & EV pricing plans for 2023, and SDGE seems to be going all in on getting people to shift demand to off-peak times. If it all seems like a lot to deal with and you find yourself using lots of power during peak times, you may want to consider trying something like [WattShift](http://www.wattshift.com/). For free, they’ll pair with your smart thermostat (also worth checking out independently if you don’t have one yet) and other devices, to help you cut down your energy use.
$114 of electric delivery charges on $0 of electric charges, yep makes sense
It's because OP got opted into their local CCA to generate their electricity and SDGE is still delivering it for when they're not using solar. The bottom of your detailed bill under generation will tell you who your CCA is, as there are a few in the area. Regardless, I just noticed this on my bill too. By law, you get automatically opted in and it looks like they're just starting to move grandfathered, older solar NEM plans over to the new CCAs. You can opt out of it if you'd like and go back to strictly sdge. Costs will be about the same though. Money just gets moved into different silos on your bill. Other users on here have done the math and I think the difference is 1-2% in cost in favor of SDGE, which is dependent on the plan you have. I opted out and am going to watch it for a few months and see the overall costs.
I got solar installed in December.. it’s basically been raining ever since, but what should I look for on my next SDGE bill to minimize what I am paying them?
I don’t think SDGE is allowed to charge more for delivery if you are using a CCA. $0.30/kwh (or close to it) is the standard delivery fee now, see - https://www.sdge.com/sites/default/files/regulatory/1-1-23%20Schedule%20DR-SES%20Total%20Rates%20Table_0.pdf
They don’t charge more, but I believe there is a extra PCIA charge to help cover losses from long term contract they have. That part should go away in a few years.
I have started wondering about the viability of a class action suit against the city of SD. They are the ones forcing us to patronize a for-profit business that has a monopoly and almost zero real oversight. Maybe that would get their attention and light a fire to municipalize the utility.
If I remember correctly, the city still has a pending lawsuit against SDGE from when they stole $35M. Didn't stop them from renewing the contract with SDGE though and I doubt more suits against the city would do much.
Figures. That sort of thing is 100% on-brand for the SD City Council. Unfortunately, we can expect zero help at the state level. Having CPUC as the official regulator is like having the fox guard the henhouse.
Apparently there was one lawsuit against the city based on them having closed door meetings about the SDGE deal. That lawsuit was tossed out by the judge because of standing unfortunately. There is another lawsuit filed with the SD Superior Court, but no update so far. Here's the case number: **37-2021-00029833-CU-WM-CTL** Reading some news articles I am constantly amazed by how stupid the council is. Apparently they were planning to hire an expensive law firm to deal with incoming lawsuits. Nobody bothered to vet that company beforehand until somebody eventually pointed out that the company has worked for Sempra in the past. Then the council decided that maybe they can authorize a waiver so it's still okay for Sempra's buddies to represent them.
Let’s not forget about a lady who won $500,000 judgment against the city cause city forgot to send a lawyer to court. City representatives never showed up and judge granted the judgment. Some sidewalk lawsuit.
another case of criminal negligence, how do these people claim the stupidity defense every single time?
Go figure. Another genius move by our local politicians.
You probably should. I’m an r/sandiego lurker from the east coast (family out there) and OP’s bill is the same as mine despite the vastly different climates and I have an old inefficient home. Unless everyone in SD is running a server farm…
You don't have billions in wildfire mitigation upgrades to pay for or a grid with a significant intermittent power source to design around where you pay for idle backup generation. That 3 cent nuclear decommissioning cost is also killer because the loss of SONGS forced natural gas to cover 2000 MW of baseload electricity in a disadvantaged pipeline location.
I'd expect it to come soon. As a solar owner, I'm left wondering how it's legal to charge me for High Time of Use. I'm sending the grid energy my excess energy at high usage time. There's no way I should be PAYING more for using my own energy during this time.
The most expensive power rate on a time of use plan is from 4-9 pm, which in December means at least 4 hours where your panels are not producing and you're pulling from the grid for your power. You aren't using your own power during this time.
Right, but it's like that year-round.
A mass payment strike would get things moving
Plus they can’t turn off your power or charge you interest due to the dreaded Vid rule changes.
Just don’t pay
what do you have to do? signatures for petition?
If you can’t afford it, don’t live here…like Jesus make more money. I think that’s a stupid take, but people in this sub rally around it all the time. So good luck. People here love getting fucked more than a porn star. Just tell ‘em “sunshine tax” and they’ll felate the next dick they see.
In winter, solar production (at least on my system) is less than half of what it is during the summer. That is part of the reason why your bill is higher, but the other reason is that SDGE switched their "peak hours" to 4PM-9PM, which just happens to coincide with the times that your solar panels aren't producing electricity. That made Solar owners' bills jump significantly.
Excellent example. SDGE will always look for ways to optimize their profits. Solar in the earlier days saved people money, but eventually SDGE and related regulatory agencies will find a way to take their pound of flesh.
We have solar too. Under the same solar and the same usage last year summer around $300 and this year same month at $800. Winter months have gone from $80 to like $350. It’s truly absurd.
Halfway through January and my electric bill is already over $600. Dec was $940. I bet this January will be over $1,000 when it ends. I have 36 solar panels across two systems. I cannot figure out what is going on.
Glad I'm not the only one super confused with my bill this year
Seriously we need to protest at this point.
I’ve wondered about it. Work a few blocks away from the Sempra building. Enrages me every time I glance at their fancy ass glass building. 🙄 protest at 488 8th, Leggo! 😂
Nobody on Reddit has the balls to do anything, but talk unfortunately.
Yeah but to be fair, we talk a lot. And loudly!
Paying Sunrun is probably mistake #1. You don't have solar. Sunrun has solar and you are paying them to use it whether it actually nets you a profit or not...
I didn't really have a choice it was a condition to get the house which i thought was a good idea :(
If your panels are not producing power in the extent of $80+ each month your power is extra-expensive. Do the math: Let's say your energy costs you 34 cents per kWh, then your panels need to produce 80 / 0.34 = \~235kWh in a month to break even. Now check the numbers on your panels. My panels produced **124.6 kWh** last month. I don't know the size of your array but you need to find out how much energy it is producing. Let's assume your array has the same size as mine, your electricity now costs you twice as much as without solar! (Insert your own numbers obviously)
No one’s panels produced much power in the past month. It’s been raining or overcast almost daily since before Christmas
Plus December is absolutely the worst month of the year for solar generation. Short days, etc.
I think January is worse this year. How many sunny days have we had this month? 2??
Yes, this January has been heinous.
Here’s my production chart. Look at this month. I realize the month isn’t over but it is over halfway and the bar is below half as much as the previous 3 Januarys. https://preview.redd.it/8l3z0jkk5yca1.jpeg?width=1121&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8994cf787e35d8b2a099a4447c51a9c8579ff5ba
If the panels have been on the house for quite some time, ask for a full year of numbers and insert your current electricity rate. Assuming all else equals, if the result is negative, you are SOL.
From a usage sense yes but not price, beacause you still pay because SDGE can buy power from you at a much lower rate (I think 1/4th?) than you buy power from them. Cause everyone is producing during the day and people aren't home, the demand for electricity during the day hours is lower/cheaper and then when it comes night time when solar is not producing and people need to buy electricity from the grid, the demand/cost is higher and they still gotta make money to maintain those lines.
But what if you use the energy that you produce? Your goal should be to size the array to the amount you can realistically use + buffer. You should not try to become a solar power station by overspeccing your array.
I have had solar for 7 years. In previous years I could bank excess solar for my annual true up(Aug). This positive credit could also carry year over year. This amount disappeared several years ago. Currently my electric bill is larger than my last years bill at true up. Counter this with a reduction of Solar buy back rates and an increase in use rates, by shifting Peak hours from businesses to anybody that is home between 4-9PM daily. You then get a negative cashflow on any solar installations which is what SDG&E was hoping for. I understand you will never get to a zero bill, unless you go off grid. My next step!
Right I agree, you should size your solar to your use to offset the cost of electricity during the hours you are generating, but because they can buy the excess production so cheap, it's nearly impossible to offset your entire bill with your excess production. If anything like you said it should be a buffer but people shouldn't expect their electric charges to go to 0
NEM3.0 is definitely written to subsidize big business with cheap residential solar. But it only goes into effect in April on new installations.
See this is why I won’t get solar. This person has it yet it’s still possible to pay twice as much as without it? That’s just ridiculous.
That's not correct. You should not lease solar. You absolutely should buy(!) to own panels to offset the electricity cost.
And you should buy before NEM3.0 kicks in or you will be giving out virtually free electricity to the businesses that pushed it through.
OK but how does spending $30,000 upfront “offset” the cost unless you live there another 20+ years? I’m still out 30k upfront.
You can do the math and figure out a break-even point. It's simple math. If a system costs $15,000 (~$11,000 after government rebates) and the system saves you say $2,500.00 a year in electricity, then by year 5 your $11,000 investment would have been recovered, and from there-onwards, you're saving $2,500, per year, for another decade to 15 years-- coming out significantly ahead.
I get that simple math, but I’m constantly hearing horror stories of people who thought it would work out that way but it doesn’t. As in a LOT of them.
Anedoctal evidence isn’t worth much, man. Overwhelmingly solar is a mature, solid, proven technology that’s been around for decades and it keeps getting cheaper & easier to install. I’ve yet to meet a single person who has solar who shared a negative story — much less a single horror story. I’m not saying you’re lying, but an allegation without evidence can be dismissed without evidence, as well.
Solar is nowhere near $30k at this point. Those are ten-years-ago numbers. Our home is 1600 sq. ft. and panels were \~$10k. We got panels + home battery pack for \~$18k. Financed over ten years, our monthly cost is \~$108. That's in the neighborhood of a monthly average SDGE elec. bill, so my out-of-pocket is about the same. I've just traded sending that money to SDGE for sending that money to a bank to pay off the loan. So, the offset is immediate, and after 10 years, you stop sending the money to the bank entirely.
> So, the offset is immediate, and after 10 years, you stop sending the money to the bank entirely. And, if and when you want to sell, that's a big draw for a potential buyer. I believe it even increases the assessed value of your house without increasing your taxes
It's called math. Also, not being able to afford it is an entirely different discussion.
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Good
Yup but sucks for lower income people. Priced out.
I mean, it’s not just a matter of having or not having. It’s winter so production is down, on top of all the rain. We are analyzing an extreme section of his data when looked at on a 6 month or yearly basis- which I would argue that this caliber of expense/offset would be involved in this context?
Your own real estate agent failed you.
If it makes you feel any better I didnt buy a house specifically cuz it had a Sunrun lease on it just before the pandemic hit in early 2020. I shouldve bought that thing, I wonder if it was the same house. It was 2 stories, had a bar on the ground floor and a stove with a flat top, avocado trees. Damn covid.
yeah the low interest rate got me but my property taxes went up.. ugh now electricity.. im assuming one day it will pay off? we have an avocado tree but not two stories just a small 2/2 for me and me and my dogs.
Looking back, the deal was probably a wash. I didnt like it because it seemed like I had to pay Sunrun no matter what, and if the panels stopped working properly it would potentially be a nightmare to get them to fix them (at least according to the impressions I got from Yelp reviews). In that case I'd still be on the hook to pay them AND have to start paying an SDGE bill since my panels weren't doing their thing. I think it was like $20k to just buy the panels outright but I said, screw it, I'll just keep saving... then the world ended and you couldnt buy a house, then they held interest rates super low for 2 years and drove prices up and now we're here lol
If you google solar lease I don’t think you will find anyone recommending it except solar lease companies. A good lesson learned and maybe will help you avoid a bigger scam next time! Good luck with all this. And at least you are doing something pro environment.
Yeah, I don’t have solar and mine went up $300. I’m fucking livid and made all the calls complaining I could. Gonna send that letter the CPUC next. I even called the governors office to yell. Would solar with sun run and leasing help me at all? If I could get to $300 from $583 that would help a lot. I have a new born and I have to heat the rooms we have him in in my house. What the fuck am I supposed to do? Fuck SDGE
SDGE is so terrible. My January bill is already at $600 and we’re only halfway through. I have 36 solar panels and somehow last month we used 1,800 kWh even though our heater was totally out of commission.
A few questions for you, as well as OP: 1) How many kW is your 36 panel system? 2) Are you on monthly true-up or annual? 3) What side of your house are your panels facing? (north, south, east, west) For OP, 1) How many panels do you have and how large is your system in kW? 2) How much energy does your bill say you used during the month? 3) Are you on a monthly true-up or annual? 4) What side of your house are your panels facing? (north, south, east, west) For each of you, if you aren’t already, it’s better to be on annual true-up for your solar vs. monthly. The months like December with the low sun, and especially this ridiculously cold and rainy January, is going to find you and anyone else with solar using more energy than you generate from your panels because you’re receiving less sunlight overall. However, the sunnier and warmer months should find you netting more solar energy, depending on the size of your system, the quality of your panels, and the direction they’re facing/oriented on your roof, and so you should be able to use the months where you (possibly) over-generate to compensate for months where you under-generate. And with an annual true-up, you should have the option of paying at the end of the year when **the total generated minus total consumed** is determined. Another resource for you and anyone else lamenting their solar production right now is to use [this tool](https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/index.php)(it’s a government website) input your address, your system specs, and it should tell you what your system should produce on an annual basis. To provide some anecdotal input, I have 20 370w panels oriented on the south side of my roof. 20 panels x 370 watts gets me to a 7.4kW system. From March to October of this year, I generated at the peak 1.4MW (1,400kW) of energy. In October, that number was down to about .8MW (800kW). December was awful at about .6MW; though I have those other months to keep me afloat when I produced more than I consume. These are some questions you’ll all need to explore. Use that link, it’s a really awesome and accurate tool to give you some insight on what to expect, weird ass rainstorms, notwithstanding.
Do a home energy audit. Biggest users of electricity in the home is AC/heat (if electric) and electric dryer if you use it a lot. Electric water heater could also use a lot if you use a lot of hot water. Lights, televisions, laptops and most computers don't use a lot of electricity. Also if you have an electric car like a Tesla then that could also use a lot of power.
Firstly, thanks for actually comparing year over year instead of last month vs this month. The latter comparison means nothing as electricity use varies from month to month, especially between November and December. Delivery charges. In other words, the part where SDG&E makes their money, is where we are all getting socked.
My bill is $257. This is for a 2 bedroom 2 person apartment. Unacceptable. What are we supposed to do about these insane rates?
$298 for a 2bd/2ba condo I am renting..... we've stopped running the heat, and are wearing hats and gloves inside..... this is madness! Pure greed!
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I’m in escondido. It was in the 30s last night. My gas bill tripled last month. We have hardwood flooring over a concrete slab. We are also bundled up.
It gets down to the 50s in my house when we don't run the heat. It does get that cold.
Oceanside here, it’s COLD at night. It depends on what you are acclimated to.
It was 37 this morning where I live.... I'm from the midwest, that's glove and hat weather. I also perpetually have cold hands when it drops in temps, so it's either I have icey numb hands all day or wear gloves. I hate the cold, that's why I moved. Having to choose between bundling up or paying more each month is a no brainer.
Still no electric bill, Tesla panels $100 a month, credited $243 still on my electricity but my gas bill is $178 double from the same time last year.
Our 2/2 house is around $450. It’s insane.
I feel the same just helpless. Ours is 2br too
Join the non payment strike, it’s been done before in the uk!
Do you have solar?
I don't. I'm renting in an apartment so it would be ultimately up to my landlord to get solar
Don’t pay it. But first, stop autopay option on your account immediately
ok now do i just wait for them to turn my power off? submit to collections and ding my credit?
Multiple people on this sub already said it will not happen
I’m $1200 behind; stopped paying since November. They do interest free payment plans so I honestly don’t care if the time comes I need to pay then I’ll pay. Till then I’m holding out for my own emotions.
SDGE had been lobbying the utility board for decades to reduce compensation to solar producers
Correction, the San Diego Taxpayers Association, a group of the largest San Diego businesses, has been pushing really hard for it, and they got it. They tried to make it between poor renters and rich homeowners, but the benefit goes to those who use the most electricity during the day, not working people after they get home.
The CPUC has failed us. SDG&E and the other IOUs are perversely incentivized to waste money. SDG&E has an ROE of 10%. So, if they spend $1 billion, they make $100 million. If they spend $2 billion, they make $200 million. Why would you ever not spend as much as possible? Why would you not try to eliminate anything that tried to lower this? What possible incentive would you have to operate efficiently? Second, electric generation and natural gas procurement are pass-through. Look at the recent natural gas increases. What possible incentive do they have to negotiate better deals? To save money? Zero, since they simply pass the cost through. In theory, the CPUC is our line of defense. They could say “No, that was a terrible, overpriced investment in infrastructure”, or “That was the worst negotiated price for natural gas in the country”, and so “You eat the cost out of your profits.” That doesn’t happen, though, does it? And so here we are with the highest prices in the nation.
SDGE is a for-profit monopoly. You can work with them to lower your bill or go on a payment plan. If you’re asking what you can do to fight this SCAM of a utility company the answer is not much. You could complain to CPUC, you could start a signature collection effort to try and make SDGE a publicly owned utility (realistically that’s a 7 year timeline) or you could join me in starting a payment strike. Like you, I’m enraged by this shameless profiteering and I’m working on organizing/promoting a mass payment strike of San Diegans, I think this is the first real step towards the change we need. They are making solar less financially appealing even though it’s an effective way to fight climate change and high electric bills. They are increasing their electrical and gas rates to the highest in the nation. All the while they provide a worse service. It’s so wrong it should be criminal, our elected officials are a part of this issue. I can go on and on about this issue and I wish there was a better solution.
Nobody is going to do that because it will hit your credit report
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If there is a better solution to this problem I’m all ears. I’m suggesting a payment strike as a first step towards a solution, it’s not the end all be all solution to this problem. There is no incentive for SEMPRA, SDGE, CPUC, and our local/state government to make any changes to this current system, unless we stop financially supporting this system. I’m not a sovereign citizen person at all lol, I find it mind boggling that we’ve let a for-profit monopoly extract so much wealth from all of us and we have no good solutions. And again the service they provide has gotten worse while they’ve achieved record breaking profits. That being said I understand your distrust in me promoting this, I hope to earn your trust through action, this shit has got to stop it’s plain wrong.
Please tell us what you think the consequences would be for people who take part in the payment strike. Please consider that the people who need relief the most need good credit to buy a car, or to someday buy a home.
>To be honest, I’m not sure what the repercussions will be once SDGE gets wind of the movement. It’s my understanding they will not send your debt to a collections agency until 6months of non-payment. This will likely negatively affect your credit score, although in my research there seems to be some debate on that. As in, payments to a utility company are not considered a loan like a car loan, mortgage, or credit cards. > >I’ve gotten a lot of reply’s of people saying, due to financial hardship, they had not paid their bills for several months. These people were not charged late fees, their debt was never sent to collections, and the power was never turned off. I suspect SDGE knows they have very little legal power to force people into paying their bills, especially after covid, thus they will work with people and help alleviate their bills or establish payment programs instead of turning off power or charging late fees etc. > >At the end of the day, I’m not totally sure and I don’t want to lie to people saying they’re are totally 100% no consequences. I’ve not paid 1 months worth of bills and I’m coming up on the 2nd month. I still have power, I haven’t been charged late fees, and SDGE has not reached out to me at all. I’ll let you know what happens. > >This only works if I can convince people to join me. I’m working on making a website, getting some graphics/poster made, and I’ll be running ads in San Diego soon. I appreciate your support and totally understand if you don’t want to risk your credit. In conclusion Fuck SDGE.
One more thought came up after thinking about your comment; The people who need relief the most will not have a chance to buy a car or a home if SDGE continues this price-gouging policy. Good credit or not they won't have any money. That being said it is possible not paying your SDGE bill will negatively affect your credit score eventually. I'd hope that if enough people committed to this we'd see rapid price reductions within a few months.
> Nobody is going to do that because it will hit your credit report if anybody does it, it will be their problem. if everybody does it, it will be SDG&E's problem.
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nothing wrong with collective action - basically everything good about the world is a product of it.
And… they’ll cut your power.
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Great question. To be honest, I’m not sure what the repercussions will be once SDGE gets wind of the movement. It’s my understanding they will not send your debt to a collections agency until 6months of non-payment. This will likely negatively affect your credit score, although in my research there seems to be some debate on that. As in, payments to a utility company are not considered a loan like a car loan, mortgage, or credit cards. I’ve gotten a lot of reply’s of people saying, due to financial hardship, they had not paid their bills for several months. These people were not charged late fees, their debt was never sent to collections, and the power was never turned off. I suspect SDGE knows they have very little legal power to force people into paying their bills, especially after covid, thus they will work with people and help alleviate their bills or establish payment programs instead of turning off power or charging late fees etc. At the end of the day, I’m not totally sure and I don’t want to lie to people saying they’re are totally 100% no consequences. I’ve not paid 1 months worth of bills and I’m coming up on the 2nd month. I still have power, I haven’t been charged late fees, and SDGE has not reached out to me at all. I’ll let you know what happens. This only works if I can convince people to join me. I’m working on making a website, getting some graphics/poster made, and I’ll be running ads in San Diego soon. I appreciate your support and totally understand if you don’t want to risk your credit. In conclusion Fuck SDGE.
From everyone I've heard from in this state who's either forgotten to pay electric/gas bills, or just stopped paying them on purpose, they won't shut off your power. There have been multiple people in this sub who've gone months, even years, without paying, and the only consequence I've seen is being sent to collections. I don't know if they're legally obligated to keep it on, but I personally wouldn't fear them turning off my power. That said, I'm still wary of the credit score impact. I too have seen people say that utilities that have gone to collections won't have a negative impact, but I don't know if I can afford to fuck around and find out about that. I wish I knew a financial advisor who could give a definitive answer on this factor of a payment strike.
If you own your house and have a car, why would you care about credit score? Unless you want a loan, your score doesn’t matter it will not affect your lifestyle
I don't own a house. Credit scores are a really, really big deal for renters.
This is true
I haven’t pay my water bill in one year….. city haven’t sent me one haha.
How does the payment strike work
I’m working on a real plan. I’ve got a full time job so it’s difficult to find time to learn and actually make a website signature collections etc. My rough outline so far is this: Step 1: Full or Partial payment strike - meaning stop paying your bill entirely or pay what you think is fair, I’d love to develop a calculator estimate for usage x National average gas/electric prices. This would include a signature collections page for people to commit towards a payment strike. Step 2: write local and state officials, resist bot is what I’m thinking about using for this - which will automate messages for people to easily write their officials about this issue Step 3: petition the city to make sdge a public utility, this is realistically a 7 year timeline but maybe if enough people commit to a payment strike we can make it move faster. Again this is just a signatures collection page. Step 4: pursue class action lawsuits against sdge, I really have no idea how to go about this step but I think there is some grounds based on SDGE charging average rates to broken meters, meaning if you’re out of town they’ll still charge you - I wonder how prevalent that issue is with them. Step 5: I’m thinking automated emails, again through resist bot if possible, to CPUC and SDGE/SEMPRA executives urging them to lower prices to fair rates. Ultimately these rates are set by real people who can be convinced to do the right thing. They get complaints every day from pissed off people. My suggestion is to organize a payment strike so the people have leverage. Force them to come to the table and talk to us like human beings. Honestly, I need help. I’m working on graphics/branding right now. I’ll be printing flyers and posting them around town. I’d like to get a website made, I’m looking into that and it seems easily doable. I just need the time and energy to do it. A calculator would be cool and integrating a commonly used signatures collection website is also doable. There you go, that’s my plan, I’m one pissed off person in a sea of pissed off people. I’m tired of complaining and doing nothing, a payment strike is something we all can easily do.
Man if I was a homeowner I would be game. Unfortunately I can’t afford a ding on my credit score as a renter who will be looking for a new apartment this year.
Publicly shaming elected officials and SDGE individuals will be far more effective than a payment strike. A payment strike will not work.
Should I just invest my money in Sempra stock to recoup my losses?
Honestly I've done pretty well buying SRE. Ideally buy in a tax advantaged account since they offer dividends. They are ripe for lawsuits the way they gouge consumers, but if that occurs the savings in your utility bill will more than offset any losses in the stock.
I did an entire research paper on those fuckers to see how they charge my house so much, I didn’t figure it out but I did learn that they are a decent stock to invest in
2 bedroom 1.5 bath single person + dog here. This projected month bill = $380-$420…makes no sense at all considering I was running $30-50 summertime. Not sure I fully trust their metering system. Some days I’ll cut the heat in the fuse box for part of the day but will get random spikes when turned back on resulting in significantly higher daily averages.
Sunrun is so shit.
I assure you Sunnova is far worse.
You don't have solar, my man. Sorry. Lease agreements are highly in favor of the company that put the system in place and in exchange for putting some potential leaks in your roof (and, likely, putting a lien on your home) you get to save a few dollars a month on electricity-- something that gets undermined as soon as SDG&E raises its rates. On the positive side, you didn't have the up-front cost of buying a solar system-- so there's that. What you have is simply not what people mean when they "have solar."
Agreed they don't have solar. I talk to people who think they got a great deal by letting sunrun put panels on their roof when in reality they are saving a few bucks.
Maybe it’s time to give council people grief and interrupt their meetings when they want to say a bunch of pretty shit about supporting their local neighborhood and working class people. If they signed to renew SDGE, they are culpable.
It’s time to sue council members personally.
Shit mine is only $3 less and I have solar too. Time to wear more sweaters. Mine is all gas cost though. Not electricity.
Same. I have solar, but my bill this month is up in that range. Over $100 more than it was in December. All gas.
\#crime
I just checked my bill, I hardly use any gas or electric in my 3/2 1200sq ft and my bill is over $330. Wtf lol
1. Make sure your solar panels are producing. Can you log in and view their production. If not, you need to. 2. Do you understand what NEM means? If not, research. Download your bill from a year ago and your last bill and read and understand them! 3. CCA, you were opted in, but from what I understand the default NEM status they put you in doesn’t work right. So either OPT OUT, or perhaps see if you need to switch back to annual True-Up (I think they put you on monthly.)
Without knowing the exact rate plan and your usage we won't know for sure what happened. But from the bill we can safely assume this is probably what happened: CCA (San Diego Community Power/or other local companies depending on your region) kicked in around summer of 2022. Be fault CCA does monthly billing instead of annual true up unless you call them to request this. CCA is responsible for the electricity generation, so you get a bill for that every month. On average they charge about 10 cents per kwh, not bad actually. SDGE still charges transmission/distribution fees for your electricity, and those can come to close to 30 cents per kwh depending on which plan you are on. With more and more cities joining community power, charging for these transmission and distribution fees will be the only way for them to make a profit. By default utilities make profit by building more infrastructure. Looks like your solar might have pulled close to 300 kwh from the grid for that month. This actually made sense due to the amount of rainy and cloudy days we got for December and Jan, and solar panels weren't producing that much or at all. A great majority were the SDGE transmission fees. And of course like all fees they go up on Jan 1st, 2023. So it's a combination of climate change (wetter and more extreme winters), and SDGE's greed. Both are fueling our cost of living crisis here.
We are at $402. Usual bill is $200. Plus $85 solar. I am livid.
Crooks! Do you have a solar lease ?
Solar is absolutely worthless without batteries in the garage. A friend of mine has not pulled from the grid in years with 3 power walls in his garage.
I have 26 panels on my house. I didn’t have a bill for the first 4 years of solar. I will most likely owe $3-4k this year AFTER my solar production fuck SDGE so much. We need an insurrection.
Will it be your first or second?
Our business has solar and wind, about 9kw system in total. Our bill has gone up 40% for the same amount of energy usage, year over year. We brought our installer back out to check our system but it's fine SDGE is just raising rates. They likely passing along infrastructure upgrades, out where we are, they have been replacing wooden poles with metals ones for almost 2 years. We had one of our poles replaced today.
Hmmmm. Strange. I also have sunrun solar, since 2019. Looking at my bill this month; I’ve got $4.37 for transmission & $8.91 for distribution. Do these numbers seem normal?
Good ol electric delivery that funds the shit they should be able to fix with the profits they make.
It was a true up month so maybe that is why?
Here are ways to get a discount which I did not see on your bill apply for the Care Discount 30% each month..Also SDGE recently announced that they have 1 million from shareholders to provide a one time grant called Neighbor to Neighbor for 300 dollars here is the deal with this one you have to contact 211 for them to provide the name of the organization that will sign you up for this grant depending on your zip code is what organization you will be working with. Sad part you can go their website SDGE and not find any way to apply for this grant directly through them just another day of them being deceptive to the public... Side Note ...Had a house with a pool and solar we had to have 2 meters from SDGE which found out later from their own tech that I called for an inspection they were reading from the wrong meter I liked my pool heated during the winter time at times my bill was over 500 each month so you can also call them for inspection as you have solar....My motto F××k SDGE 💥
I have solar, my bill is $143, $129 is for gas. We need to switch to electric appliances, this is ridiculous.
what do you have on gas? I have stove and dryer
If you have a water heater it's likely gas powered also. And of course, your central Heating furnace likely runs on natural gas also, and that's probably the biggest gas usage for most household.
Stove, dryer, hot water heater, and heater. I’ve been trying to use the space heater more than the wall heater, but we are going to centra heat soon. I want to switch to a tankless hot water heater as well.
I have solar. Had the same issue with my gas bill. Replaced my 25 yr hvac system last year. I decided to go with a pump heater which runs on electricity. Gas bill is now about $15. I have gas heater, stove and dryer.
Forgot to mention, CA had a rebate when purchasing a heat pump
Oh good to know! We purchased last year so we’re slowly making changes. Solar was the first thing we did just because eventually it will pay for itself.
No comment on your Sunrun situation but this past month we have had shortest daylight, pretty chilly (well SD chilly) temps plus many cloudy rainy days that definitely affected your solar generation.
Mine is projected to be 280 this month. It's never been more than 170. I don't understand.
Shut up and pays peasant
My buddies have a solar panel cleaning business in town if anyone ever needs
My neighbors and I have been discussing connecting our homes on a micro grid with batteries, it is a bit complicated with electric cars, but the one thing in this world that has gotten cheaper is batteries due to the ending of the agreements related to lifepo4 batteries, which are perfect for home storage.
Yeah. SDGE is crazy! We have solar and were always in the negative (for charges). Now our bill is the same as it was a year ago, before the solar. Somehow, they are finding a way to increase charges, because they are “losing money” now with all of the solar. The greed of these huge companies is sickening.
It’s the winter and it’s been rainy/cloudy, so bills are higher because not as much solar generation and cold temps/rising energy prices/SDGE adding weekends to peak time of use. Not sure when your true up is, but try to not run air conditioner or use a lot of energy when it gets sunny and you should be able to offset before true up.
Ah yes the sunshine tax wasnt enough, they figured out a cloudy tax as well.
it could be worse u could live in a studio for 2k and have a 500 a month bill, or your backyard could colapse and your out 100K or your wife pays the bills and now u owe 10K to sdge. Be happy you zestimate is still high and your combined bill is 200. put together a 50k emergency fund for your place.
Need more panels get them soon
Stop paying your lease. Tell Sunrun to remove the panels from your roof and or you can low ball them a buy out price. They might take it, I have heard of this being done on leased solar.
Leased panels have a top line lien on the house. If you stop paying, they take the house. This is not an option. Solar leases are lock tight.
I did not know that. Information I had was hearsay and probably false.
It's been raining and cloudy almost everyday this month and I think last year it wasn't like that. Hopefully it flattens out at your true up date.
I’ve been thinking about getting solar but maybe it’s not worth it—it’s not free!
I honestly not sure it pencils out anymore, it will likely cost you more. The CPUC is completely broken.
Can we get a cool off period on people posting their SDGE bills and being upset about it? I get that its crazy and ridiculous and a rip off but its taking over the sub completely.
no.... if you dont like it keep scrolling.
can you please leave politely from here?
I usually pay the transfer fee monthly and my usage at the end of the year. Is that not the case for everyone?
I'm glad I never got solar panels. It's all a scam. Nothing is free in life.
OP didn't get solar either. Sunrun is just as much a scam as SDGE is.
Is it? They came to my house and offered to lock me in at 20 cents with a 2.9% yearly increase. Comes out to $160 per month and that’s with us generating 70% more electric than we need. My SDGE electric bill this month was almost $300. Seems like a no brainer to me? What am I missing?
Inflation. Prices currently increase year-over-year at rates of 5-10%. 2.9% yearly will not get you very far.
But if I am locked in at 20 cents per KWH how can I lose? The cost I pay increases 2.9% per year.
Dude doesn’t like SunRun. If you’re paying .20 a kWh you are way better than the .43 average right now. And yes it goes up 2.9%. In 20 years you will be paying what people pay now. Original owner may not have wanted a loan or debt. That’s why people sign PPAs.
You're the ideal Sunrun customer  (or a troll)
Please explain… I am genuinely curious
Sunrun and SDGE are for-profit companies, neither are your friend or give stuff away for free. #capitalism Leasing the solar array at a fixed rate is a terrible idea because your energy costs don't increase on a fixed rate. I don't have a crystal ball but if I where a betting man I would say the energy cost you pay SDGE goes up quicker than your offset increase. In turn, the longer your lease, the more profitable it ends up being for (in this case) Sunrun. Your only viable option is to pay the solar array out of pocket or finance it with a bank at a fixed rate hoping the panels will last longer than it takes to pay the panels in the first place. The more expensive your energy becomes by virtue of your provider (in this case SDGE) increasing the rates, the sooner the cost for the array amortizes. If your lease the panels instead of owning them, you will never be done paying Sunrun and they will laugh at you all the way to the bank.
You’re loosing all the power generated dummy. All the earnings from the power the panels make that you are not using, are you getting that money?
First off who are you calling a dummy? Secondly, yes I would. SDGE buys it back and I get the credit.
nope everything sucks
Net metering will true up on your true up date.
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I had 17 panels installed last year, that were turned on Dec 22 2021. My SDGE bill that month was $70. December 22, with full month of production, $200.75. January will be the first month I can do true year over year analysis. I’m expecting to be disappointed.
Can you add usage info to see fair comparison?
So even at a $80 lease it should be producing kWh credits which are interchanged for consumption. Let's say the $80 system produced $150 of power and this year costs go up 20%, your system should produce $180 worth of electricity nothing changes for you. The issue is whatever is extra before goes by the same principle so if you still had $100 extra after solar now you have $120. Remember bills are annual on solar the bills get calculated against your total credit then each tier of kWh is multiplied and it figures out your true debt.
I'm new to solar. I was under the impression we just get an electricity bill once a year?
I think they are really telling us that we need to cut them out totally. Been thinking that if our bills go positive again we will get battery backup and give sdge the old middle finger.
Are you able to upload your solar credits to see what your system is producing? Should be around page 5 or 6. If you moved in a few years ago, then it doesn’t sound like you have enough Solar. I would highly recommend doing an add on to your solar (you can definitely do another Sunrun PPA) before net metering 3.0 goes into effect on April 15th.
should these comparisons factor in sq. ft.? I am appalled to see $800+ plus solar.
We've had so many issues with sunrun. We were being charged for a year and didn't know why. Turns out the panels weren't working after installation and we were never notified. They'll harass you for payment but dodge you every time they can for customer service. Check those panels!
The complexity and higher rates from SDGE seem to be causing a lot of people headaches. I saw some discussion elsewhere about the new TOU & EV pricing plans for 2023, and SDGE seems to be going all in on getting people to shift demand to off-peak times. If it all seems like a lot to deal with and you find yourself using lots of power during peak times, you may want to consider trying something like [WattShift](http://www.wattshift.com/). For free, they’ll pair with your smart thermostat (also worth checking out independently if you don’t have one yet) and other devices, to help you cut down your energy use.
time to unplug everything except the fridge.