From: No-Nonsense Solar
PG&E Revamps Net Metering Services
After Germany and Japan, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. ranks third place worldwide in connecting up PV and solar thermal systems, according to Art McAuley, manager of PG&E’s generation interconnection services. The utility now has 30 MW of solar systems and 40 MW of wind systems interconnected to its grid, announcing Feb. 1 it had just interconnected its 10,000th solar customer.
But the net metering program had growing pains, and McAuley acknowledges the utility faced complaints in interconnecting small distributed generation systems. It vowed to improve and in the past 18 months the group has made significant changes to the program. “We instituted changes so we could interconnect customers more timely and effectively,” he says.
First, it investigated what the best practices in the state were by visiting the net metering programs run by Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric. After comparing notes on such things as generation interconnections and system protection, the members of his team put in place the simplified supplemental review.
Under this new review, if generating equipment is certified according to Underwriters Laboratories safety code 1741 and protective devices are approved by PG&E, “we skip certain screens in Rule 21 and go directly to calculating fault duty and voltage profile studies.”
(Rule 21 is the regulation put in place by the California Public Utilities Commission determining the standards investor-owned utilities are to follow when interconnecting distributed generation systems, including solar, wind and fuel cells, to the utility’s distribution system.)
 |
| Pacific Gas and Electric Co. ranks third worldwide in connecting PV and thermal systems. |
McAuley says the major component of PG&E’s new Net Energy Metering program, as it is now called, is the realignment of the engineering core group that reviews applications, from 100 planning engineers that worked on all applications to 18 that focus strictly on distributed generation projects. One of those 18 planning engineers is assigned to each area. This provides much more consistent and knowledgeable service. The DG engineer in Fresno, for example has the same level of knowledge as the engineer in San Francisco. Once PG&E receives an application the customer is connected within 10 days.
McAuley points out that a distributed or self-generation project is limited to net metering 1 MW of power, even though it may be bigger.
Frank Salguero, supervisor of the net energy metering team, describes how managers reached out to vendors who were active in the program. In meetings designed to educate them on the application process, managers also asked the vendors for input on how PG&E’s services could be improved. There is more synergy now to help address issues down the road, he says.
For example, one of the problems on the interconnection application that had cropped up constantly was designating the right rate schedule customers wanted, Salguero says. As he explains, a time-of-use rate schedule may be wrong for residents who work at home. They would be penalized with higher charges if during peak hours their energy use increased enough to use more electricity than that generated by the solar system.
The utility is also holding vendor fairs once a year at PG&E’s San Ramon facility, and they make a point of including staff people from the California Energy Commission. Engineers explain such issues as system protection and why PG&E has the procedures vendors may initially oppose. They are now looking to increase the frequency of the fairs and generally improve outreach, McAuley says.
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The Net Energy Metering Web site has also been improved to provide more information to vendors and applicants. An online application is available there along with other information including frequently asked questions. The web address is www.pge.com/suppliers_purchasing/new_generator/. Click on net energy metering under “generate your own power.”
McAuley says the utility is now receiving 18 to 20 applications a day and spend five to 10 days processing each application. There are exceptions. On one day in January it received applications from a developer for a 140-home subdivision. Representatives talked with him about their process and the developer devised a spreadsheet containing the needed information, cutting down the paperwork exponentially. PG&E will not be stuck with doing all 140 homes at once however, since the developers complete five to 10 homes at a time.
July-August 2006
From: No-Nonsense Solar
PG&E Revamps Net Metering Services
After Germany and Japan, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. ranks third place worldwide in connecting up PV and solar thermal systems, according to Art McAuley, manager of PG&E’s generation interconnection services. The utility now has 30 MW of solar systems and 40 MW of wind systems interconnected to its grid, announcing Feb. 1 it had just interconnected its 10,000th solar customer.But the net metering program had growing pains, and McAuley acknowledges the utility faced complaints in interconnecting small distributed generation systems. It vowed to improve and in the past 18 months the group has made significant changes to the program. “We instituted changes so we could interconnect customers more timely and effectively,” he says.
First, it investigated what the best practices in the state were by visiting the net metering programs run by Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric. After comparing notes on such things as generation interconnections and system protection, the members of his team put in place the simplified supplemental review.
Under this new review, if generating equipment is certified according to Underwriters Laboratories safety code 1741 and protective devices are approved by PG&E, “we skip certain screens in Rule 21 and go directly to calculating fault duty and voltage profile studies.”
(Rule 21 is the regulation put in place by the California Public Utilities Commission determining the standards investor-owned utilities are to follow when interconnecting distributed generation systems, including solar, wind and fuel cells, to the utility’s distribution system.)
|
| Pacific Gas and Electric Co. ranks third worldwide in connecting PV and thermal systems. |
McAuley says the major component of PG&E’s new Net Energy Metering program, as it is now called, is the realignment of the engineering core group that reviews applications, from 100 planning engineers that worked on all applications to 18 that focus strictly on distributed generation projects. One of those 18 planning engineers is assigned to each area. This provides much more consistent and knowledgeable service. The DG engineer in Fresno, for example has the same level of knowledge as the engineer in San Francisco. Once PG&E receives an application the customer is connected within 10 days.
McAuley points out that a distributed or self-generation project is limited to net metering 1 MW of power, even though it may be bigger.
Frank Salguero, supervisor of the net energy metering team, describes how managers reached out to vendors who were active in the program. In meetings designed to educate them on the application process, managers also asked the vendors for input on how PG&E’s services could be improved. There is more synergy now to help address issues down the road, he says.
For example, one of the problems on the interconnection application that had cropped up constantly was designating the right rate schedule customers wanted, Salguero says. As he explains, a time-of-use rate schedule may be wrong for residents who work at home. They would be penalized with higher charges if during peak hours their energy use increased enough to use more electricity than that generated by the solar system.
The utility is also holding vendor fairs once a year at PG&E’s San Ramon facility, and they make a point of including staff people from the California Energy Commission. Engineers explain such issues as system protection and why PG&E has the procedures vendors may initially oppose. They are now looking to increase the frequency of the fairs and generally improve outreach, McAuley says.
The Net Energy Metering Web site has also been improved to provide more information to vendors and applicants. An online application is available there along with other information including frequently asked questions. The web address is www.pge.com/suppliers_purchasing/new_generator/. Click on net energy metering under “generate your own power.”
McAuley says the utility is now receiving 18 to 20 applications a day and spend five to 10 days processing each application. There are exceptions. On one day in January it received applications from a developer for a 140-home subdivision. Representatives talked with him about their process and the developer devised a spreadsheet containing the needed information, cutting down the paperwork exponentially. PG&E will not be stuck with doing all 140 homes at once however, since the developers complete five to 10 homes at a time.