Question for AZ SRP customer on when true-up time is

[Volusiano]

I'm an SRP solar customer in AZ. My understanding is that the annual true-up is at the end of the April billing cycle, according to the SRP solar FAQ:

Under the Renewable Net Metering Rider, if the energy produced by the system is greater than the energy used by the customer in a given month, the excess energy produced is carried forward to the next month. If there is still carry-over credit remaining at the end of the April billing cycle, SRP will credit your account for the excess energy at an average annual market price. SRP does not issue a check unless you request one.

So SRP read my meter on 4/17 and prepared and had my bill ready on 4/18. If this is "the end of the April billing cycle" like their FAQ said, then I would expect some kind of credit $ for my excess energy that they said they would true-up in April. But I don't see any kind of $ credit in this bill.

Since this is my first true-up year for solar, I don't know what to expect. Is the true up supposed to be when they prepare my April bill (on 4/18)? Or is the true-up supposed to be on 4/30, the end of the month of April?

Any AZ SRP customer on this forum who may know the answer to this? I guess I can call them on Monday to find out, too. Just curious to see if I can get an answer on this forum as well. Thanks.

[Ian S]

Well, I'm APS so it could be different but trueup for me occurs with my December bill which is usually around the 9th of the month. I interpret SRP's explanation the same way but I'd call them and find out for sure. I'm sure some bean counter at APS will eventually figure out they can squeeze more out of us solar customers by switching trueup to April. Probably doesn't even need ACC approval.

[Volusiano]

Did APS give you a $ credit for your excess on your Dec 9th bill, Ian?

[Ian S]

Did APS give you a $ credit for your excess on your Dec 9th bill, Ian?

Yes, and it was all used up to offset the fixed parts of the bill. See the bill image below. 376 kWh of on-peak credit was credited @ 0.029/kWh to yield $10.87 in credit. I assume if it hadn't all been used up, the $$ credit would have carried over to January's bill.

dec bill.jpg

[Volusiano]

OK, thanks. See, that's why it's confusing on my end. SRP never gave me the credit on my 4/18 bill, so it makes me wonder if I have until 4/30 for the true-up, or whether it's happened already.

Guess I'll find out on Monday when I call them.

[Ian S]

OK, thanks. See, that's why it's confusing on my end. SRP never gave me the credit on my 4/18 bill, so it makes me wonder if I have until 4/30 for the true-up, or whether it's happened already.

Guess I'll find out on Monday when I call them.

Considering how every last thing is broken out on these bills, I can't believe you wouldn't have noticed it if it had already occurred. Either they screwed up or they will calculate based on April 30 which would show up next bill.

[Volusiano]

OK, talked to SRP today. They said that the reset (clearing out the excess energy credits to 0) happens on the day of the April 17 (my billing date close date), but they have to wait until 4/30 to know what the fair market value for April is. Once they have this information, they'll credit me the $ for the true up and it'll show in my May bill.

I kinda prefer that the true up is on the billing cycle instead of on 4/30 anyway, because this means that I have 1/2 the month of April to build up credit to roll into May. From that perspective, if my April billing cycle is on 4/1 or 4/2, it would be even more ideal, to have the chance to build up energy credit for most of April going into May.

[Ian S]

Ha! APS don't need no stinkin fair market value: they just give a flat $0.029/kWh no matter if it was peak or off-peak.

[Volusiano]

Now I'm curious what FMV they're going to come up with for me. Will report back once I know (if I remember).

[Ian S]

Now I'm curious what FMV they're going to come up with for me. Will report back once I know (if I remember).

I suspect it will be more than APS pays. And, yes I'll remind you!

[Volusiano]

OK, so my May bill isn't available online yet, so I'm not 100% certain. However, my online dashboard shows a credit balance of -$27.03 for the bill date of 5/19/2014. Normally my monthly service charge is $18.54 (with net zero metering and $0 energy charges). I also have no energy charged for this billing cycle. My surplus at the true up time was 1130 kwh.

Using all this data, the SRP wholesale true-up price given to me was around $0.04/kwh by my calculation. So it's not as bad as I thought. SRP TOU off-peak price is around $0.07/kwh. SRP TOU on-peak summer price, on the other hand, is as high as $0.21/kwh.

If the bill shows otherwise, I'll revise this number.

[+3 Golfer]

OK, so my May bill isn't available online yet, so I'm not 100% certain. However, my online dashboard shows a credit balance of -$27.03 for the bill date of 5/19/2014. Normally my monthly service charge is $18.54 (with net zero metering and $0 energy charges). I also have no energy charged for this billing cycle. My surplus at the true up time was 1130 kwh.

Using all this data, the SRP wholesale true-up price given to me was around $0.04/kwh by my calculation. So it's not as bad as I thought. SRP TOU off-peak price is around $0.07/kwh. SRP TOU on-peak summer price, on the other hand, is as high as $0.21/kwh.

If the bill shows otherwise, I'll revise this number.

Yes, as of 4/30/2014 it's 0.040326 / kWh. Last year was $0.03193 / kWh.

Renewable Reconciliation $24.76 CR
Ending Carryover 614 kWh