Ohio Net Metering utility bill

[Snoman002]

Looking for bill examples for those on net metering in Ohio, even better if it is Ohio Edison

Currently using around 2100kwh/mo with an electricity price of $.0485, the bill averages around $.13kwh all said and done after distribution charges and other fees.
As I am looking at the financials (ROI) of installing a 20kW grid tie system (no battery) I would like to see what others are paying in tarrifs for their system.

 

[ncsolarelectric]

Looking for bill examples for those on net metering in Ohio, even better if it is Ohio Edison

Currently using around 2100kwh/mo with an electricity price of $.0485, the bill averages around $.13kwh all said and done.
As I am looking at the financials (ROI) of installing a 20kW grid tie system (no battery) I would like to see what others are paying in tarrifs for their system.

Your cost for electricity is $0.0485/kWh or is that what they will pay you for what is sent back to the grid? Whether or not the energy credits offset the other fees depends on the NEM agreement and Rider. You can find those on their website, typically.

If your cost for electricity is only $0.0485/kWh, you will be hard pressed to purchase and install a 20kW system where the energy you generate over 30 years averages less than that. That's the lowest cost/kWh I've seen, anywhere!

 

[Snoman002]

Your cost for electricity is $0.0485/kWh or is that what they will pay you for what is sent back to the grid? Whether or not the energy credits offset the other fees depends on the NEM agreement and Rider. You can find those on their website, typically.

If your cost for electricity is only $0.0485/kWh, you will be hard pressed to purchase and install a 20kW system where the energy you generate over 30 years averages less than that. That's the lowest cost/kWh I've seen, anywhere!

The agreement/tariffs are where my question lies. The Ohio Edison tarrif disclosure is something like 250 pages long and I cannot easily understand what may or may not apply to a future situation.

For clarity, my cost for electricity has been $.0485 kWh (just recently increased to $.0621). That is only a portion of my bill however and total cost per month runs right around $.12-$.13kWh (again just recently increased).

Making some big assumptions I think I can readily drop $150 off my bill on average with a $30,000 system (before rebate). That should put my ROI at under 15 years. With some usage cutting measures I can easily undertake, and adding an EV or PHEV, that should shorten some.

Still, without having any sense of what I will ACTUALLY see on my bill it's difficult to run the math.

 

[ncsolarelectric]

I see what you mean. Wordy! In the Net Energy Metering Rider, Sheet 94. It describes that you are credited at 1-to-1 for the solar energy you send back to the grid, and you can request an actual "refund" of excess credits. So whatever rate you pay under the residential rate schedule, RS, that is what they will credit you for energy sent back. Where they probably get you is, that they have a low rate for the energy, but then tack on all these extra charges per kWh.

 

[Snoman002]

That appears to be the situation.

I have alternate energy providers but it is unclear what distribution charges there may be added to their cost.

I believe I can go to 120% of my usage. This leads me to want to go with as large of a system as possible (for tax credit) and over panel for off season production

I see what you mean. Wordy! In the Net Energy Metering Rider, Sheet 94. It describes that you are credited at 1-to-1 for the solar energy you send back to the grid, and you can request an actual "refund" of excess credits. So whatever rate you pay under the residential rate schedule, RS, that is what they will credit you for energy sent back. Where they probably get you is, that they have a low rate for the energy, but then tack on all these extra charges per kWh.

 

[Snoman002]

FWIW, since I was looking for this info for a long time.

*Assuming no other tariffs for having solar, and assuming that consuming energy from the grid has distribution costs but sending it back does not.

My current bill with Ohio Edison indicates a Generation cost of $.657 KWh, a "Cost Recovery" of $.022KWh, and a Distribution cost of $.049KWh. Cost Recovery has remained the same, Distro has risen from $.0454 to $.0489 per KWh, Generation has varied from $.0601 down to $.0489 and now up to $.0657. Overall, over the last year, my bill runs around $.12/KWh to $.136.

As I have a Sense energy monitor I decided to use this and PVWatts to understand my bill if I went with solar. This again assumes Net Metering allows me to sell back at Generation rate, no distribution cost or cost recovery for selling back, and consuming (from the grid) has Generation cost, Distribution Cost, and Cost Recovery.

My findings.
Installing a 20KW system generates ~24,000KWh over the year (PVwatts). My consumption is 26,000KWh over the same period. My usage is higher in the winter and increases in the evenings and falls off around midnight.

Without solar the bills is estimated to be around $3,800 for the year.
With solar the bill would estimate out to $1,400.
Savings is just under $2400 per year.

*Bill by Month


This is solar production vs household consumption for July (highest production month)
*note, this is by HOUR of the day averaged across the month.


This is December (lowest production month.


In short, with a sell back rate that is just under half of my "buy" rate a solar system that covers over 95% of my usage will result in an average bill that is approximately 40% of what it would be without solar.

ROI on an hand built system should be 10 years, give or take (with rebate). I hate to think of the ROI on a purchased system...