How is the New Utility Bill calculated?

The New Utility Bill is calculated using a variety of factors, including the homeowner's current consumption, the selected utility rates, the proposed system's estimated production, etc. It is important to keep in mind that this number is an average across the entire year, meaning the customer may have 100% offset, but the New Utility Bill may not be $0.

Here are a few resources within the proposal that can help you understand how the New Utility Bill is being determined. You can use the links below to jump to a specific section, if needed: 

1. Fixed vs. Energy Charges
2. Utility Bill Info
3. Rate Plans
4. Consumption Graph

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Fixed vs. Energy Charges

Most utility companies will have a fixed charge, in addition to energy charges. You can view what portions of the new utility bill are fixed charges versus energy charges, by toggling them to display separately. In the proposal sidebar, open the "Utility Escalation" -> "Display Energy and Fixed Charges Separately" -> "Update":

 

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Utility Bill Info

In the sidebar, there is a tab called "Utility Bill Info" that provides a detailed breakdown of the estimated bill amounts for the entire first year, both pre and post solar. 

 

The "Annual" page will show the estimated amounts for each month, which are then used to calculate the average new utility bill (the value displayed on the proposal).

 

 

If you click into an individual month, you can see each individual charge that is contributing to that month's post-solar bill. This includes, monthly connection fees, energy charges, export credits, etc. 

 

 

In addition to this, you'll see the details of each month's energy consumption estimates, tiered and TOU energy charges, fixed charges, and tax charges. 

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Rate Plans

If you're worried about the bill amounts being incorrect, you may want to double check that the correct utility rate plan has been selected on the proposal. In the sidebar, open the "Rate Plans" tab to view the currently selected rate plans.

You can change these at any time to match what your customer is using, and changing them will update any applicable information as soon as you click Update.  

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Consumption Graph

As stated above, the New Utility Bill is an average amount, across the whole year. This means that the actual amount the customer is paying may be higher or lower depending on the month. In months where the proposed solar system is producing less than the home is using, the homeowner is going to need more energy from the grid, so the utility bill is going to be higher.  

So even if the system is at 100% offset, meaning the estimated production is covering their annual consumption as a whole, it may not be covering the monthly consumption for every month. You can view the months where that is the case using the graph page on the proposal: 

If the utility company offers export credit for months when the solar system is overproducing, our calculations for the New Utility Bill will take that into account. That is why the Utility Bill Info section can be very useful in understanding these calculations.