The entire energy model of CA needs to be rethought. From CPUC just doing what the companies want, to monopolies that are on the stock market that increase prices while also making huge profits… it is not serving the people.
and the CPUC is solely in the hands of PG&E.
As a customer it's sort of like wargames - the only winning move is not to play.
Unless you live in say, santa clara or palo alto, where they have sane energy companies with reasonable prices (like the outside of california)
The latest proposal (which has been accepted by the CPUC) has fixed charges applied for everyone (much lower than previously proposed fixed charges) with discounts available based on existing low-income programs ( https://www.pge.com/en/account/billing-and-assistance/financ... )
So yes in order to get the discount low-income customers need to declare income and may need to verify that income with tax documents (depending on how much fraud these program plan to tolerate) but other customers do not need to provide income information.
And with so much sun, that is a very viable option. A roof covered in solar and some batteries and you'll never deal with this nonsense ever again.
It’s ca. They wouldn’t make it THAT easy to opt out of their insanity.
In any case the small number of people who can afford to do so and want to do so seem to be doing so [3]
[0] https://www.cailaw.org/media/files/IEL/Publications/2016/gri...
[1] https://klinedinstlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/how-tit...
[2] https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/build...
[3] https://www.reddit.com/r/solar/comments/168mlxw/possiblelega...
Huh? Are you saying I'm forced into a contract with a private company with a monthly fee?
... what happens if I simply have no money, and get the service terminated due to lack of payment?
Actual criticism of real problems in California (which seems to be doing better than most states in most ways, but isn't perfect) gets buried under tribal political nonsense, where everything is an outrage.
It isn't crazy, but it is a bad idea. There should be one debate where we work out how much support successful people are expected to provide for their less successful peers, and one transfer payment to cover it. Then everyone pays for things as equals.
Setting up multiple parallel societies where everyone has a different experience and financial incentives is wasteful. It ends up in situations where the electricity provider needs to consult with someone's accountant to work out what to charge customers. That is kinda crazy. A customer's tax position has nothing to do with the services they are provided and linking them is going to have weird second order effects.
It is the same lunacy as linking paying for medical services and employment together and we have all seen how that worked out for the US. Linking parts of the system together at random is not the path to a high-functioning administrative state.
which was heavily encouraged by tax policies and government-imposed price controls on labor...
Of course, the barrier in California is the infamous Proposition 13. You're right that charging people different rates for energy based on their income is silly; if they want to let the poor off the hook they should just tax them less, or even give them money. But the state's lawmakers are operating in a constrained environment.
(It's also the case that subsidies and means-tested benefits are trendy in Democratic policy-making circles, despite being dumb and inefficient compared to simpler and less directed benefits.)
2. The “income-graduated fixed charge” is not taxation - it is paid to a corporation, not a government entity.
This is different from wanting a fixed price for a spot-priced product.
The old net metering model where the utility serves as a battery was never going to be sustainable as distributed renewables grew in popularity. Home batteries are definitely the way forward, but NEM 3.0 is an abomination.
To just timeshift from daylight to evening/night/morning, you'd need batteries in the 25-35kWh range, 40-50kWh if airco on in the night, another 80kWh if you're driving electric and typically away from home during the day, charge at night. That is a lot of energy to pack, even at the low end. Imagine if everyone finds the cheapest set on AliExpress and DIYs it themselves, and then looks for a new model once current installation no longer matches their needs (capacity loss or use increase)... this must be a fire brigade worst nightmare.
Due to generation being more localised, we also need some form of much more local redistribution and/or storage. But not the nightmare that is one or more poorly installed and poorly maintained batteries of dubious origin per house.
Also 80 kwh is way too much for a car. that's enough to fill your entire battery. an average day of driving is only ~5-10 kwh
In a legal sense, most jurisdictions require some form of certification for such systems anyway, and the true diy versions are never going to be very common regardless.
First, you don’t need a full off grid battery setup to benefit. With time of use rates a battery that covers peak usage and even recharges under low time of use rates is a big benefit over its lifetime.
On safety, to sell back to the grid you need an interconnect agreement and inspection of your system. California utilities can install meters that can apparently detect secondary sources of back feeding the grid. Lastly if you try to DIY a correct setup you’ll have to buy UL1741 spec equipment for managing back feeding and equipment with other safety standards relevant to your use. Often this is not a code requirement but in the interconnect agreement and utilities have enforcement powers.
For off grid solar it’s a different story but the NEC always applies. If someone wants to do a comically bad job at their electric work they’re probably going to burn down their house anyway.
In my current home I’ve recently finished removing and replacing all the electric work accomplished by a previous owner’s “contractors.” Nothing like having electrical work run through low voltage grade audio visual wall plates and connectors for zero fire protection IN AN AIR PLENUM THAT GOES FROM MY BASEMENT TO MY SECOND FLOOR. That way if something does catch on fire it didn’t have all those pesky layers of protection between the floors of the house. Literally $30 in parts later and shorting wires get two hours to melt and trip a breaker.