To extend the metaphor a little, the farmer would be bringing in carrots in a ready-to-sell condition and putting them directly in the Safeway stores on the retail shelves.

That's a little different than forcing Safeway to pick them up at the wholesale distribution warehouse (at full retail price) and truck them around themselves and stack the stores themselves.

In the PG&E case, the residential rooftop solar power is delivered directly into the retail last-mile networks just like the carrots on the Safeway shelves metaphor.

However, the NEM2.0 model is still needed a tuneup. Last-mile networks still need maintenance. Suppose each neighborhood reached self sufficiency, somebody has to pay for the grid maintenance and run the whole thing.

IMHO, buyback at a discount makes sense, but NEM3.0 seems like a Christmas gift to PG&E. They get ToU, capacity fees, wholesale rates, and minimum usage fees. They asked for the sky and got it all.