The first bill after your system turns on confuses almost everyone. You expected a small number and instead you see charges, credits, several different rates and possibly a line labelled true up.
Nothing is necessarily wrong. Solar billing works differently from standard billing, and the statement is reporting several things at once. This guide explains what each part means so you can tell the difference between normal and a problem worth calling us about.
Going solar changes how much electricity you buy. It does not disconnect you from the grid.
You remain a utility customer. You still draw power at night, on cloudy days and whenever your household uses more than your system is producing. Your utility still charges for the infrastructure that delivers it and for several fees that apply regardless of how much energy you consume.
A solar system that covers most of your usage will substantially reduce a bill. A zero dollar bill is uncommon and should not be the expectation you were sold on.
Daily or monthly service charge. A fixed amount for being connected. On SCE this appears as a base services charge applied every day of the billing period. It does not change with usage and solar does not offset it.
Non-bypassable charges. These fund state programs including low income assistance and energy efficiency. They apply to electricity you import from the grid and cannot be offset by solar credits. They are small per kWh but they are the reason a bill rarely reaches zero.
Taxes and local fees. Applied according to your jurisdiction.
Minimum charges. Some tariffs apply a minimum amount per billing period regardless of net usage.
Energy charges for imported power. Electricity you bought from the grid, priced by the time of day you used it.
SCE places new solar customers on a time of use plan, commonly TOU-D-PRIME, and on a solar billing plan structured around net billing.
Look for these sections.
Delivered and received kWh by period. Your statement separates electricity you imported from the grid and electricity you exported, broken out by time period. Imported power is priced at your retail TOU rate. Exported power is credited at the export rate for the hour it was sent.
Those two numbers are not equal in value. That is the core of net billing. Exporting 500 kWh and importing 500 kWh does not cancel out, because the export credit is a fraction of the retail rate.
Peak, off peak and super off peak usage. The 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. window carries the highest rate. Summer peak pricing on standard plans reaches roughly 58 cents per kWh, and off peak sits considerably lower. A month where your evening usage ran high will show it here.
Monthly charges versus annual true up. Many solar customers pay only the non-bypassable and fixed charges each month while energy charges and credits accumulate. The accumulated balance settles at an annual true up. A large true up is not a billing error. It means your consumption exceeded the value of what your system offset across the year.
If you have a battery, your imported kWh during peak hours should be noticeably lower than they would be without one. That is the clearest place to see whether your storage settings are working.
LADWP operates differently because it is a municipally owned utility and is not subject to the Net Billing Tariff.
LADWP runs its own net metering program that credits exports at or near full retail rates and nets them against your consumption, with credits carrying forward. Billing is typically issued on a schedule that combines electric and water service, which is its own source of confusion when homeowners try to compare a combined bill against a previous electric only figure.
LADWP residential rates are tiered, so your solar production offsets your most expensive tier first. That is a meaningful advantage and it is why the same system can perform differently on either side of a service boundary.
Pasadena Water and Power is also a municipal utility with its own rules and billing format.
Usage went up. A new EV, a heat pump, a hot summer, a house guest, a pool pump running longer. Compare kWh consumed year over year, not dollars.
Wrong rate plan. The plan you are on changes which hours cost the most. If your household load does not match your plan, you pay more than you need to.
Evening concentration. Heavy use between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. is the single most common cause of a disappointing solar bill under net billing.
Battery settings. Storage can be configured for backup reserve, self consumption or time based control. A battery held at a high backup reserve is not doing peak shaving work.
A production issue. Shading from new growth, a soiled array, a communication fault or an underperforming component. Monitoring will show this as a drop against expected production.
The system was sized for different usage. Systems designed around a prior usage pattern will not cover a substantially larger one.
Pull up your monitoring app and compare production for the period against the same period in prior months. Check your kWh consumed against the same month last year. Confirm your rate plan. Check your battery reserve setting. Then look at whether the increase sits in peak hours or across the board.
If production has dropped without an obvious cause, or if the numbers do not reconcile, contact us. Green Additions supports customers after activation, including monitoring questions, battery configuration and reviewing a bill that does not look right.
Because you remain connected to the grid. Fixed service charges, non-bypassable charges, taxes and any electricity you import beyond what your system offsets all still apply.
An annual reconciliation of the energy charges and credits accumulated over your solar billing year. Many customers pay small monthly amounts and settle the balance once a year.
Per kWh charges on imported electricity that fund state programs. Solar credits cannot offset them, which is why bills rarely reach zero.
Under net billing, exports are credited at avoided cost rather than retail rate. See our guide to understanding NEM 3.0.
No. LADWP is a municipal utility with its own net metering program and credits exports at or near retail rates.
Yes. An electric vehicle adds substantial annual consumption. If your system was designed before the vehicle, it was not sized for that load.
Compare actual production in your monitoring app against expected production for the season. A sustained gap is worth investigating.
Green Additions designs and installs custom solar, battery storage, EV charging, and electrical solutions for Southern California homeowners.
Licensed California Solar Contractor
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