Dear K.A.

Bummer that your latest electric bill is so darn high.

I looked thru the electric bill's line items, and compared with PG&E's official rates (their "tariff book"). PG&E calculated the bill correctly.

The bill was for the period: January 15th thru February 12th.

During that period, your 3.2 kW PV (solar-electric) system performed as expected. Your top array produced 147 kWh, and your bottom array produced 128 kWh. That's a total of 275 kWh.

Of those 275 kWh, 166 kWh were used directly at your site while 109 were exported to the grid.

The 166 PV kWh used at your site reduced your bill by $56.97 (166 times the $0.343-per-kWh off-peak electric rate). The 109 PV kWh exported to the grid reduced your bill by $9.29 (109 times the $0.0852-per-kWh export credits) ...The total bill reduction was $56.97 + $9.29 = $66.26.

The 751 kWhs imported from the electric grid cost you $287.05 ($0.382 per kWh). (But it could be worse... your electric bill would have been $353.31 if you didn't have the PV system.)

What can be done to lower your bill?

I don't think your bill would be significantly lower on a rate plan other than your current E-ELEC rate plan (and in any case, E-ELEC is required with your "Solar Billing" plan).

Switching from Ava Community Energy to PG&E for the "generation" portion of your bill would increase it by a few percent.

In PG&E's winter-season months (October thru May), the peak-time rate is only $0.036 (%5) higher than the off-peak-time rate ($0.379 vs $0.343)... I don't think it's worth trying to move your electricity use into the off-peak (midnight to 3pm) time window.

We could consider adding a PV array to your west-facing wall. And we could consider adding a battery, so more of your PV production is used on site (to get credited at $0.343 instead of $0.0852, based on current rates... four times as high). I owe you quotes for these two options (and a combined option). I'm sorry for my delay. I'll also share an estimated financial comparison.

As always, please let me know if any questions. If helpful, I'd be happy to discuss this note with you thru phone.