The Impact of Rate Design and Net Metering on the Bill Savings from Distributed PV for Residential Customers in California

We analyze the bill savings from PV for residential customers of California’s two largest electric utilities, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE). The analysis is based on hourly load data from a sample of 215 residential customers located in the service territories of the two utilities, matched with simulated hourly PV production for the same time period based on data from the nearest of 73 weather stations in the state. We focus on these two utilities, both because we had ready access to a sample of load data for their residential customers, and because their service territories are the largest markets for residential PV in the country.