PG&E Rate Hikes Forecasted
PG&E wants to significantly raise electricity rates over the next three years and increase its state-guaranteed return on capital investments. Customers have already been warned about potential rate hikes due to the recent wildfires and PG&E is seeking a double digit percentage rate hike to help reduce the risk of future fires. Customers are already paying some of the highest electricity rates in the state and in the country. The Bay Area utility’s average rate is 20.06 cents per kilowatt hour, compared with an average 16.06 cents in Southern California and 10.48 cents nationally. In the past decade, PG&E’s rates have been going up faster than inflation. According to the Public Advocates Office, residential rates have risen 31% between 2009 and 2019 — higher than the consumer price index of 19%. PG&E has asked for a 12.4% rate increase in 2020, 4.7% increase in 2021, and 4.8% increase in 2022. That’s nearly a 22% rise. PG&E says much of the extra money is needed for fire-safety improvements such as more fire-resistant poles, covered power lines, new weather stations, and high-definition field cameras. Also, PG&E is seeking a raise on the guaranteed rate of return on capital investments so if both of these requests pass then homeowners will be paying $300 on average more each year for electricity. Do you want to keep paying more to PG&E when you could switch over to an investment that pays you? Each dollar you put towards Solar is a dollar that will multiply and come back to you over time while putting you on the side of the solution for battling climate change. Feel free to email us at Office@AllyElectricAndSolar.com or call us at 510-559-7700 for your free Solar Proposal!
California Home Battery Rebate Explained
California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) is one of the best incentives for home owners to invest in a storage battery for their home. These batteries are great because they can store electricity when it’s cheap to use from the grid and dispense electricity during peak hours so you aren’t paying high rates during the evening time. Obviously it’s also great if there’s a blackout since it will support your electrical needs for a certain amount of time depending on how big your battery is and how much electricity you use. With this rebate you can get as much as $250 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) when you install a home battery. Also, you can use the 30% Federal Tax Credit to pay for it so when you add all of these incentives more than half of the costs of installing a home battery are taken care of! This incentive will be reduced over time however so it pays to be an “early adopter.”
You can check here to see the real time status of the incentive. https://www.selfgenca.com/home/program_metrics/
Everything You need to Know About Solar Panel Warranties
There’s a lot to know about all the different solar panel warranties and I will break it down as simply as I can here. Make sure your system is being installed by a Certified Solar Installer so there’s a 10 year workmanship warranty. This warranty covers your roof and any issues connected to the the solar installation such as leaks and any damage connected to leaks where the roof was penetrated to attach the racking. Also it makes sure the install was done up to code. Next up is the product warranty which is usually at least 10 years and covers your panels, inverters, batteries, etc. However, If there is an issue with any product you’ll usually know within ten days due to being able to monitor your system in real time. The manufacturers warranty will not cover any damage from a baseball or golf ball so if you have any chance of getting hit you may want to look into home owners insurance covering that. The 25 year performance warranty is standard which covers that the panels will produce at least 95% of the kilowatt-hours that was agreed upon. Well that wraps up all the warranty info you need to know and feel free to email me at Office@AllyElectricandSolar.com if you have any questions!