Offsetting 100% of Your Energy

How much power should I offset?

When you are purchasing a solar system, you have the option to offset part or all your power. Here in Fresno and the Central Valley, summer bills can get out of control with air conditioning use and kids being out of school so it pays to think this through before finalizing the purchase.

Many solar companies here in Fresno and the in Central Valley will usually recommend offsetting all your usage except for the "lower two tiers" of your bill. They are referring to the baseline and the next tier after the baseline, which have been locked by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) to low pricing to help lower income individuals from high bills.

Recently, PGE was able to coerce the CPUC into removing the pricing lock for the lower 2 tiers, meaning that PGE can raise rates even though this will affect low income individuals and raise utility bills for every one. These two tiers will run from $60 to $80 per month before moving on to higher rates, depending where you live.

Going back to how much power should you offset, when you purchase a solar system you are getting rebates and tax credits as a one time payment to help you offset the cost of solar. If you leave a part of your bill, even though they are called "cheap energy", you are still tied to the utility company paying something every month. You have made a significant investment to go solar/green and yet you still have a bill due every month, for the rest of the life of the system.

Let's think about this: the State of California the Federal Government and in some cases, your city/county is paying for such a huge part of your solar system, go ahead and offset 100% of your bill. Future rate increases, inflation on that left over bill, payments for selling overproduction to PG&E, as well as the way PGE structures their rates make offsetting all of your energy a very attractive option. Also, the larger the system you build, the better the pricing usually is.