Anonymous
October 28, 2021, 1:16 am
6.4k Views
12 Comments
By an edhat reader
I just received my October energy bill from Southern California Edison but I thought we were all enrolled in the new community energy plan. Will the billing still be through Edison or this new program? I’m a bit confused on how this is working and I also can’t see any difference in the bill.
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I opted out and didn’t have the new account number so they said they will bill me with the new company for this first month. It wouldn’t work on the internet so I had to wait on the phone to have them change me back. Totally bogus unauthorized change. Wait ’til the only 5$ a month and change eco company follows along like Cox.
For those who didn’t opt out, SCE is still doing everything except your energy generation. Since there is no way to actually separate the power from one home to the next, nothing has changed we are still all getting the same energy. 3CE is just an added layer of government bureaucracy that is unnecessary. After your introductory rate period ends in 15 months, 3CE will cost you more for the social programs they plan to implement, mostly in counties far north of here.
I had the occasion to speak with a rep at Santa Barbara Clean Energy (the city provider) yesterday. Billing was one issue and the other Time of Use choice. My situation is complicated (maybe) by my excess solar generation credits. So I have three parts of my bill: SCE mandated connection charges and taxes and fees, SBCE grid use charges and SBCE solar credits. In any event, the bill will come from SCE and be so itemized. October 1 was start date, so depending upon your billing cycle, your charges should be at SBCE clean energy tiers, whichever you chose or the 100% clean and renewable option if you did nothing.
You also could choose the “best for you” Time of Use category or you will be in the one you’re in. I have EVs to charge so I thought the EV tier would be good. Maybe, maybe not. The link to the rate card is very long, so go to SBCE (or Central Coast Community Energy if you live outside of the city) and look for it. Trying to figure it out requires lots of time, your usage data from your SCE bills over the past year, and a spreadsheet app or millennial in the house. SCE used to “do the math” for customers and I’m going to call them before I give it a go. Last time I did it, the net annual savings by changing to TOU-A was substantial. So much so that SCE stopped offering that plan.
Some of you might object to the “automatically opt in” process, but it is a good method to get (force) the community to look at the information and be informed. They sent a ton of glossy stock mailings and the web site looks pretty nice, finally. It is basically: 1. do you want to pay perhaps $2.50- $5 more per month (more or less) to not use fossil fuels and to use renewable sources instead, and try for carbon net zero to keep your lights on, keeping the ocean from flooding the waterfront, bird refuge and Funk Zone in a few years or: 2. pay about the same as you do now for perhaps 50% less fossil fuel, or 3. opt out and let SCE use any source they want for power generation.
Seems like a no-brainer to me.
And remind me, why do they say too many middle men is a bad thing?
Yeah. Cool, right? Well, that is what will happen if we do nothing, but of course, fixing the Climate Crisis is going to take more than just most of California abandoning fossil fuel electricity production and (most) everyone driving EVs. But at least it’s a start and you personally won’t be doing stuff to make it worse.
Yes, SCE will be delivering your volts but how it gets generated—that’s the change. When they don’t pay for coal and oil delivery to the generator plant and it shuts down and that money (*your money*) is instead used to build solar, geothermal, wind systems, we all win.
3:48pm wrote: “After your introductory rate period ends in 15 months, 3CE will cost you more for the social programs they plan to implement,” Please don’t make stuff up. That’s just nonsense. Besides, since when has SCE guaranteed their rates for any length of time? Ever?
I opted out. Which, was a very difficult and convoluted process. Not interested in paying extra for what smells like another lame progressive idea.
Ginger- Of course SCE has never guaranteed their rates. SCE sucks. But currently SCE is procuring a higher percentage of “green energy” than 3CE. SCE also has nearly identical rate plans if customers choose a higher percentage of their power from green energy. SCE also has programs which invest in the community and provides rebates and special pricing programs. We didn’t need a new government entity to procure green energy. New Legislation has forced SCE to evolve and can continue to do so. I have watched every meeting of the 3CE Operations Board, Policy Board, Community and Programs Committee where they specifically stated many times that rates will be artificially low in the beginning to maintain the customer base and gain a foothold in the communities they serve. When Ca legislators passed legislation allowing the creation of CCAs they included a provision allowing those CCSs to automatically enroll customers without their consent. The reason they stated was to ensure success of the program. In other words ,if people had a choice and the correct information they wouldn’t choose to enroll. The problem most people are concerned about when it comes to energy is grid reliability, safer transmission lines and yes more renewables. People don’t want rolling blackouts and wildfires. Unfortunately 3CE will do nothing to help prevent those issues. Everyone should opt out until this new entity actually has done something meaningful.
I totally agree that the roll-out communication was inadequate and the “opt-out if you can figure out how” was likewise mismanaged. The first glossy mailing was confusing and was followed up with a letter to clarify it, which it did not. So yes, they messed up. Do you think SCE could have done better? 😉 I wonder if the county version is going any better.
On the NEM/solar generation issue likewise, you have a point. But SCE was terrible in that regard. I would get a 12 month cycle report that indicated I produced $750 worth of excess energy for which I received a check for $35. They stole my energy and sold it to my neighbor at five times my theoretical credit. Community Choice is going to double my credits. But I believe you are incorrect about CCA’s, solar and grid resiliency. There is a plan. In fact, Tesla Powerwall just released their Virtual Power Plant opt-in program that allows your excess storage (or whatever amount you choose) to be fed to the grid to help grid emergency support as needed. Pretty cool. Image a neighborhood networked micro-grid where everyone shares their solar/storage energy and can be independent of the grid. Oh…..wait. SCE and the PUC won’t allow that. $$$ Who would think? But 3CE is working on it.
1. After 15 months 3CE will move to a cost of recovery model. So yes that has to do with how much it cost to procure that energy.
2. AB 1054 is legislation intended to facilitate utilities to harden their infrastructure to help mitigate fire danger. SB 100 requires utility companies to procure 50% of their power from APPROVED renewable sources by 12-27. So you’re wrong, legislation is forcing change as well as the lawsuits from the massive collateral damage utility companies have caused.
3. I never said grid reliability and arching had anything to do with 3CE. THAT is the problem. Those issues that are most important to the public will not be fixed by enrolling with 3CE because crappy SCE is still distributing our power.
Here are some facts for you:
3CE under budgeted by millions because they didn’t “anticipate” rising costs of energy procurement. WTF?
In 15 months rates WILL go up to recover the costs of the discounted introductory rate period, even though they already have reserve funds to do so. It was voted on by the board at the last joint meeting.
Rates are determined by a board of directors with minimal representation from our county.
Crappy SCE already procures a larger percentage of green energy. 3CE continues to claim they are ahead of their goals for clean energy procurement because they have signed millions in contracts for future energy projects that have yet to be approved or constructed. Everyone is receiving the same energy regardless of who procures it. There aren’t valves on the lines that direct the green energy to only those houses who have been enrolled in 3CE.
3CE is lobbying for all electric new construction yet continues to warn about the costs of electricity procurement continually increasing . Their own consultants stated the prohibitive costs related to all electric housing, purchasing electric appliances as well as the huge costs and technical difficulty converting existing housing. So why would people choose to enroll in a program that does nothing to fix their most pressing concerns? Will cost more and tax our crappy infrastructure even more?
There is no quick and easy fix to the Climate Crisis. One thing is clear: you can be part of the problem or part of the solution. Our children’s future depends upon everyone, everywhere taking action now. Community Choice Energy aggregation programs are simply a method of funding the expansion of green, renewable energy production and distribution, not just here, but throughout the country. Please do not fault the implementation process. They mean well.
Ginger stated – “Some of you might object to the “automatically opt in” process, but it is a good method to get (force) the community to look at the information and be informed. They sent a ton of glossy stock mailings and the web site looks pretty nice,”
3CE did not send a ton of glossy stock mailers, I received ONE flyer on regular paper which looked like all the other junk mail I receive. The fine print regarding opting out was so small it couldn’t even be read with glasses. This outreach occurred 30 days prior to automatic enrollment. Consultants recommended major community outreach 4 times in the 12 months prior to the enrollment period. There was mailer that 75% of customers missed. They didn’t begin adds on social media, TV and Radio until a week before the enrollment period. The information is available now but it isn’t objective or entirely truthful. The fact that anyone thinks forcing enrollment, making it difficult to opt out and keeping people in the dark is a good thing has a screw loose. I am sure you think people are too ignorant to choose therefore government must do it for us. One last point, when asked why they don’t offer rebates for home solar panel installation the answer was there are other programs for that. 3CE says 11% of their customer base is NEM customers. They are subsidized on the backs of regular customers who pay higher rates to do so. They don’t want to encourage behind the meter solar because it cuts into their profits. Their exact words. If 50% of the customer base moved to rooftop solar and battery storage 3CE would fail. If they promoted for every new home to be built with solar panels and battery storage we would be more self reliant, more resilient and put less stress on the electrical grid. Everyone would be doing their part. Instead CCAs want to have all the control and all the profit because the utility business brings in a massive windfall.
Again, stop making stuff up.
1. Rate plans have nothing to do with energy procurement,
2. SCE does nothing to invest in the community.
3. Special pricing programs are mandated by the PUC, not SCE out of the goodness of their heart.
4. New legislation did not force SCE to evolve–lawsuits and damages from mismanagement and poor maintenance of their infrastructure resulting in fires and death is what caused them to “evolve.”
5. Powerlines arching and falling down, causing wildfires, “Public Safety” power blackouts — grid reliability is not 3CE’s responsibility. That is STILL on SCE (and PG&E).
Get your story straight. Almost nothing of what you wrote is true. Consider actually reading the legislature bills. SB-99 Community Energy Resilience Act of 2021,, SB 612 Rate payer equity bill, SB-790 Electricity: community choice aggregation.
See Wikipedia for actual factual information about how this works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Choice_Aggregation#Customer_choice_in_California