As someone who looked into solar and didn't bite, I think it is fair to bifurcate billing and have a separate charge for being connected to the grid. That is very common elsewhere and almost universal nationwide now from what I read.
The "$25 to $60 per month" is a bit higher than the $15-$35 nationally.
Would you benefit if you added batteries to store solar power that you generate rather than releasing it to the grid? For that, would you forgo the 3c benefit but avoid the 40c cost?
Adding batteries would be a benefit as I would be able to buffer my generation on a short term basis. But home solar isn't designed that way. It's sized for annual average generation, hence the annual true-up with the utility company. I bank a lot of power, kwh-wise, in the summer to be used in the winter. But PG$E doesn't bank kwh, it banks the kwh rate; used to be prevailing rate charged to me, now is the commercial bulk rate.
But back to batteries;
There are several negatives with batteries. I'll list them here that I'm aware of:
1. They can't handle the inrush current of a 3-ton A/C unit. They trip. And they don't reset on their own. You have to manually press a reset button, much like a breaker on your electrical panel. If you are not home, you are out of power. Now, let's say you took a week's vacation and you left the A/C on at 78 degrees, or even 80 degrees so the house doesn't fry your plants, melt your candles, etc. while you are away. A power outage occurs. A short one, even seconds, and if the A/C decides it's time to cycle the compressor on, it will trip the batteries and you are not going to have power when the electric company restores power. Not until you reclose the trip on the batteries.
2. The battery manufacturer, Tesla Power Wall for example, requires communication to YOUR batteries at least once every 24 hours. It can be via cellular, Wifi or ethernet, but if they can't log in within that 24 hour window, the battery will trip and stay tripped until manually reset. Just like a power outage. A literal Deadman's switch. In my neck of the woods, my internet provider is likely to suffer the same outage I'm experiencing. They do not have a generator and after 4 hours, they go dark. If the outage lasts 24 hours, my batteries trip. Same for my cell phone tower; no generator, batteries only and good for about 4 to 6 hours. The engineers at Tesla told me the solution is to turn off my A/C if I leave home. That is not a solution. Not in my opinion anyways.
3. The government will cover the cost of batteries for me since I live in an area that is prone to outages due to safety; if the weather is such that power lines are at risk, the power is preemptively cut until the event is over AND the lines have been inspected to still be intact. BUT, the way it's funded, the money is given to PG$E. I have to put up $25,000 in a zero interest 12-month loan to get them installed. After the government inspects and satisfied, they tell PG$E to release the money they gave them to do the job. However, PG$E drags it's heels and 12 months pass and I owe interest on the $25,000. PG$E has been sued over this practice and it's discovered they held the note and collected the interest on the defaulted loan AND the interest on the $25,000 that the government gave them before even starting the job. Hm.....
4. Having 27kwh of power in the size of a small fridge in your house turns out to be a liability according to home owner insurance carriers. I'm guessing they feel a fire is going to be a problem with a home that has them? I'm not sure. I only know that when I asked my insurance company how to cover their cost in my policy, they said they would drop me if I got batteries.
5. PG$E has the right to draw power off my batteries on an as-needed basis. Meaning the same power they stole from me during peak hours, that I'm now banking in my batteries, they can take from my batteries without paying me. They are required to charge them back up for free, but between the hours of 2am and 6am.
6. By law, everyone who has a house has to be connected to the grid. You can not legally go off grid. The only exception is if PG$E refuses to run power lines that far out to where ever it is you live. Only then will you get a variance from mandatory grid connection. This means even if you have solar and have batteries, you are still going to have to be connected to the grid and you still have to pay PG$E a monthly fee for it.
There are more issues, but I can't recall them just now.
