genability.com | Tariff News

Notice on SMUD Tariff R-TOD-SSR, March - July 2022

Sacramento Municipal Utility District (“SMUD”) introduced a new Solar and Storage tariff for solar customers (Rate Schedule “R-TOD-SSR”), which took effect on March 1, 2022. SMUD published documentation regarding the revised tariff structure on their website: https://www.smud.org/-/media/Documents/Rate-Information/Rates/01_SSR.ashx
genability.com | Tariff News

California Net Energy Metering 3.0 (NEM3)

California is updating its Net Energy Metering policies in 2022, commonly referred to as NEM3.0. Genability customers can rely on Genability providing full support for them. Ahead of the publication of the final NEM 3 tariffs and rates, Genability has publishing a set of Tariffs with the latest proposed rate structures for customers to use. Once details are available, the finalized tariffs and rates will be published for all to use. In this blog post we track updates as the policies and rate changes firm up. We recommend checking back hear from time to time to get the lastest.
genability.com | Company

Whats new with Genability

Like many companies, the start of a new year is a time when Genability’s goals and objectives are updated and plans are set in motion. Here’s a summary of what we are up to in 2021.
genability.com | Tariff News

California Residential Electricity Rate Changes - January 2020

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genability.com | Products

Solar Incentives Data

Genability Switch customers no longer need to maintain their own database of residential solar incentives. As of October 15, 2019 Genability’s Solar Incentives API has graduated from Beta to V1 and is now available under general release for Switch customers that wish to license it. We’ve also built a new user interface within Switch’s Dash web application to view this data along with your savings analyses.
genability.com | Tariff News

Review of Southern California Edison's New Post Solar Electricity Rates and its Impact on Savings

On March 1, 2019 Southern California Edison (SCE) will close its current default post-solar tariff (TOU-D-A-NEM2) and replace it with a new default post-solar tariff (TOU-D-4-9PM-NEM2). This tariff change will dramatically impact solar savings in SCE as the Time of Use (TOU) On-Peak hours move from 2-8 PM under TOU-D-A-NEM2 to 4-9 PM under TOU-D-4-9PM-NEM2. More importantly TOU-D-4-9PM-NEM2 introduces a Super Off-Peak period in the Winter from 8 AM to 4 PM, when the majority of solar production occurs.
genability.com | Products

Savings Analysis API Support for Non-bypassable Charges

Genability has just upgraded both our Savings Analysis API and our Calculate API to better support Non-Bypassable Charges (NBCs). What are NBCs you ask? Well that’s how the California utilities refer to the customer’s annual NBCs that cannot be offset by Net Energy Metering (NEM) Credits under NEM 2.0. These NBCs behave as a second minimum charge calculation that’s performed during the customer’s annual true-up.
genability.com | Tariff News

Review of California's Proposed Commercial Time of Use Electricity Tariffs

In 2019, both Pacific Gas & Electric (PGE) and Southern California Edison (SCE) will introduce new Time-of-Use (TOU) periods for commercial tariffs. Both utilities are moving highly-priced peak hours later in the day, from mid-afternoon to 4-9 PM. If you are selling solar, storage and/or energy efficiency in California, you want to be sure to calculate savings using these new tariffs. Thanks to Genability’s new Proposed Tariffs product for enterprise customers, now you can!
genability.com | Products

Proposed Tariffs included in Genability database

Our Proposed Tariffs feature allows you to use our complete set of tools to calculate the costs and savings of tariffs that are not yet published and live.
genability.com | Products

Genability Adds Support for PVWatts Version 6

We’ve added support for Version 6 of NREL’s PVWatts API, used to estimate the hourly production of a customer’s solar PV system.
genability.com | Products

Explorer Web App for Energy Professionals

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Solar Incentives in Illinois, Net Metering Ends for Duke Energy South Carolina

The roller coaster for solar in the U.S. (call it a Solar Coaster?) keeps rolling this summer.  The state of Illinois has finalized the credit values for its Adjustable Block Program, which provides solar owners with an upfront payment for 15 years of estimated solar production.  Meanwhile, in South Carolina the state legislature failed to increase the net metering cap and Duke Energy has met its 2% limit. Starting on August 1, 2018 full net metering closes for Duke Energy SC customers and will be replaced by the Purchased Power Rider. First the good news for solar developers:
genability.com | Tariff News

Solar Incentives in Massachusetts

Later this year, Massachusetts will close out it’s SREC program replacing it with the new Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) incentives. While there are still a few details left to be finalized, Genability is able to model the proposed SMART incentives for our customers and has made the new incentives available via the Incentives API.
genability.com | Tariff News

Duke Energy North Carolina Solar Incentives

At 9 AM this morning (July 9, 2018), Duke Energy North Carolina started accepting incentive applications for their Solar Rebate program and Genability has made the new incentive available via our Incentives API.
genability.com | Company

Genability Open for Business for Commercial Energy Customers

We have an exciting announcement. Genability is now open for business to any and all new energy companies servicing commercial and industrial customers. Today we have lifted all restrictions that might have prevented you from working with us in the past.
genability.com | Tariff News

Hawaiian Smart Export and Customer Grid Supply Solar Programs

Starting on 2/20/2018, the three Hawaiian investor-owned utilities will offer two new programs for customers with solar: Customer Grid Supply Plus and Smart Export. Both programs offer export credits for power provided to the grid, an option that has not been available in Hawaii since the Customer Grid Supply programs closed in 2017. Genability has just made these two programs available for Hawaiian Electric Co (HECO), Hawaiian Electric Light Co (HELCO) and Maui Electric Co (MECO) for use in your solar proposals.
genability.com | Products

Estimating Energy Usage from Customer’s Bill Amount

Do you have a potential solar customer’s 12 months of bills or their annual bill amount for electricity? If so, we can now estimate energy usage from that information!
genability.com | Tariff News

New York Public Service Commission Guidelines on Presenting Solar Savings

Effective December 1, 2017, solar developers in New York are required by the New York Public Service Commission (NYPSC) to meet precise guidelines (PDF Download) when presenting savings estimates.  Genability has reviewed these requirements and we have made some data upgrades for New York so that our solar customers can comply with these new requirements without any change to their API integration.  First, let’s review the new savings requirement:
genability.com | Products

Run Down of Genability Developer Website Updates

A quick rundown of the latest and greatest updates on GDN, our developer website.
genability.com | Tariff News

The Methodology Behind our Monthly Residential Rates Newsletter

Every month Genability updates thousands of tariffs. These changes can be as small as a simple rate increase or as large as a whole new rate structure. For just over a year now, around the 10th of each month, we have sent out a summary of those changes in our Monthly Residential Rate newsletter to help our customers better understand and anticipate these changes.
Industry

Thinking about a Tesla and SolarCity Big Bundle

By

| Reading time 5 minutes

In this blog post I’d like to do a thought experiment on the potential benefits should the merger result in Tesla selling a unified product that includes an electric vehicle and an electric generation system (car, solar, battery). Let’s call it the “Big Bundle”.

Tesla and Solar City

At Genability, we’ve been thinking about what the new energy future might be, pretty much all day, every day, for the last six years. To me, it feels inevitable that i) a sizable portion of our energy generation will be distributed, ii) distributed storage and load intelligence will have to be used to smooth intermittent supply, and iii) we will electrify the vast majority of our transportation. I could be wrong. I hope I’m not. But we are certainly heading in that direction.

If this hypothesis is true, then the interesting question for me is: what business models will succeed? You have an industry that has historically been dominated by local, regulated monopolies — not the traditional hotbed of business innovation. The outcome of the proposed merger of Tesla and SolarCity could turn out to just be an ill-advised bailout (as some have suggested), or a well timed acqui-hire type transaction that helps Tesla become better EV+Battery company with a bit of solar on the side. Or, it could be Elon Musk’s next significant step in his master plan.

Now let’s return to the thought expirament – This is not my prediction of what the two companies will actually do — while both Tesla and SolarCity are Genability customers, this is not based on any insider knowledge of whether the companies are thinking “Big Bundle” or not. It’s purely “what if”.

Also, don’t take this as investment advice (lets just say my 401(k) is “underperforming”).

Want to buy a Big Bundle?

Driving an EV changes your relationship to electricity in fundamental ways. First, you think more about what it costs, where it comes from, and when you use it. In talking to our friends at BMW and elsewhere, it’s clear that EV owners show a heightened interest in solar. Lets assume (pretend?) that Tesla wants to go all-in and bet on that sentiment. It takes its strong brand, massive battery factory, and bolts on the head start(?) of the market leading solar company to put a car, solar and home battery system into one lovely, big new energy product. Then it sells it direct. And I’m not talking a la carte here. Meet the “Big Bundle”.

What advantages would the Big Bundle need to make it a huge winner?

One. Customer Acquisition

Let’s start with the obvious one: If selling solar with every cars makes sense, then that would take a sizable chunk out of the estimated $4,000 customer acquisition costs most solar companies currently experience. Imagine including a solar install with those 400,000 pre-orders for the Tesla Model 3. There were 17.5mm cars sold last year in the U.S.. We’ve just crossed the 1mm homes with solar mark counting up all home solar systems. Ever. The Big Bundle would beat pure solar on price and scale.

Two. Automotive Financing Adapted Nicely

The car industry has got pretty good at providing attractive financing for the purchase of a car. Auto loans have large pools of capital, mature providers and liquidity. It’s understood by consumers. Now that solar is growing and getting cheaper, solar financing is getting better. But by piggy-backing on auto financing, the Big Bundle would have a significant advantage. There are two additional benefits to financing a bundle rather than the panels alone: First, auto financiers know how to take back your car if you stop paying. No solar company repossesses your solar system if you don’t pay. And second, once repossessed, a car has value on a liquid resale market. Who would the bank sell your solar panels to if they took them off your roof? With a bundle loan, any excess equity in your repossessed car could offset losses on the panels. Admittedly, the car’s resale might not always be enough to cover the remaining balance, but across a portfolio, the risk is reduced vs pure solar loans.

Big Bundle gets cheap financing. If panels continue to come down in price at the dramatic pace they have been, it might not cost much more than repairing those 21” rims.

Three. Fuel savings are Productized Too

Now I start getting excited. Big Bundle solar, battery and the car together and you are selling the fuel and the transport. Tesla would be tangibly baking fuel cost savings into their revenue stream. No more “this other check you write to this other company will be lower” sales pitch. Imagine if GM were able to sell you the car and its lifetime of gas (without much fuel cost risk)? Whooa Nelly!

Four. Home and Destination Charging Expertise

Car companies haven’t historically had to come to your house. The EV experience is greatly improved if you have a good fast charging option at home (as a Tesla driver, trust me, it’s night and day). In an unbundled world, installation and maintenance of your home charger may be best provided by a third party (Genability customer ChargePoint is starting to do just that). Tesla may think smart home charging is too important to outsource. SolarCity has put a lot of time and effort into better truck roll operations, and are closer to national coverage than anyone else. If you are going to (truck) roll, why not roll for a Big Bundle? If bundle beats unbundle, Tesla + SolarCity has one hell of a head start.

What-If’s are fun, but reality bites

In the real world, rather than my “what-if” one, a Big Bundle-only strategy faces big challenges. For starters, there are lots of potential EV drivers that rent a home, live in a state that prohibits solar, have a big tree shading their roof, think solar is communist, and on and on. Selling nothing but a Big Bundle would be very audacious. But that doesn’t mean that without a pure bundle strategy, there isn’t value to Tesla from SolarCity. Beyond the points above, think about the “steel in the ground” expertise that SolarCity brings to Tesla’s SuperCharger work.

Even if practical, I’m not sure that bundle beats unbundle in this case (in ten years will iOS beat Android, Native Apps beat HTML?). Maybe there will only be room for one “Apple of EV” (might be Apple!). It does seem likely that Tesla will sell EVs without home batteries, and home batteries without Solar, via channels and not just direct. Unbundled and bundled options. Regardless, I think this stuff is fascinating, hope the merger goes though, and look forward to seeing what comes of it. For our clean, abundant energy future to get here quicker, lets hope some of this “what-if” comes true.

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