The best PG&E plan for solar depends on your personal situation. If you own an electric vehicle (EV) or plug-in hybrid or have home batteries, then PG&E’s EV rate plan will be the right plan for you. If not, then you will have to choose between PG&E’s E-TOU-B and E-TOU-C plans.
PG&E net metering
As of the time of writing this article, PG&E will pay you between 2 and 4 cents per kilowatt-hour for the excess electricity you send to the grid. Keep in mind, these rates are typically less than what most people pay PG&E for the electricity they draw from the grid. Your best bet for saving money with PG&E is to try and move as much of your energy consumption to during the day when your solar is generating the most power. You should monitor your system’s production to find out when those hours are.
PG&E’s TOU-B plan
The TOU-B plan charges off-peak rates from 9 PM to 4 PM and charges peak rates from 4 to 9 PM every day. This plan may be best for those who use the most power during the week. Unfortunately, PG&E won’t reveal the rates for this plan to non-customers or we’d share the actual rates with you.
You can save money on this plan by minimizing your use of power during the peak rate hours of 4 PM to 9 PM. Since weekend and holiday rates are the same as weekday rates, which day of the week you use power will not affect how much you are billed under this plan.
PG&E’s TOU-C plan
This plan charges off-peak rates from 9 PM to 4 PM, and on-peak rates from 4 PM to 9 PM on weekdays. For weekdays and holidays, this plan charges the same off-peak rates for the entire day. This plan may be best for those who can shift some of their electrical usage to weekends, to avoid peak rate hours. As with the TOU-B plan, you can save money by minimizing your use of energy during peak rate hours.
PG&E rate plan for EV, plugin-hybrid, and home battery owners
If you own an EV, plugin hybrid, or home batteries, you’re in luck. As of this article’s writing, PG&E still offers the EV-B plan. This plan has the potential to offer the greatest savings to qualifying applicants who own an EV and home batteries. This plan has a super off-peak rate of 14 cents per kilowatt-hour from 12 AM to 3 PM. Then it charges an off-peak rate of 29 cents per kilowatt-hour from 3 PM to 4 PM, and then again from 9 PM to midnight. The on-peak rate is 54 cents per kilowatt-hour from 4 to 9 PM. These rates apply seven days a week.
PG&E TOU EV B plan rates
| Super off-peak | 14 cents per kWh | 12 AM – 3 PM |
| Off-peak | 29 cents per kWh | 3 PM – 4 PM |
| On-peak | 54 cents per kWh | 4 PM – 9 PM |
| Off-peak | 29 cents per kWh | 9 PM – 12 AM |
Note: The PG&E EV-A plan is currently closed to new applicants as of March 17, 2020.
You can save money on this plan by shifting as much energy usage to super-off-peak and off-peak rate hours as possible. Plan to charge your EV at night after midnight. If you have home batteries, then plan to power your home with them during the peak rate hours of 4 PM to 9 PM.
Freedom Forever is here to help you go solar
We recommend consuming as much of the power that your system produces as you can. That will save you more money than you’d get paid under PG&E’s net metering plan. We also recommend home batteries. They can help you avoid the highest on-peak rates. Whichever plan you choose you can go solar with confidence thanks to Freedom Forever’s 25-year performance guarantee.