NEM 1.0 and 2.0 customers that expand their system’s aggregate capacity by no more than the greater of 1 kW or 10 percent of the original system size, can remain under their respective programs. However, a revised application with the new configuration is still required.

Please note:

• The capacity limits outlined above also apply when adding an energy storage system to an existing solar installation.
• When you are submitting an expansion, if you qualify and intend to remain on your respective program, your interconnection request must be submitted using the ‘NEM 1.0/2.0 Expansion’ option in the drop-down menu for application type. Failure to do so will result in the account being moved to the Solar Billing Plan; SCE cannot guarantee a reversal back to NEM.

If your expansion exceeds the limits stated above, a new application must be submitted under the Solar Billing Plan. Once approved, your account will be transitioned to the Solar Billing Plan, and SCE will set up your account on an applicable TOU rate (if it is not already on one).

When adding solar panels to your previously installed system, you must submit a new Interconnection Application with updated information about the changes made to the system, including both new and previously installed equipment. All revised applications follow the same process as any other interconnection request and will receive a new PTO.

To ensure that the system is operating safely and in compliance with our interconnection requirements, SCE recommends that customers not operate any additional equipment until SCE has issued the new PTO. 

For more information on this, please see the following question.

If the renewable energy system is still under the NEM eligibility period and the system size is less than 30 kilowatts (kW), you do not need to do anything. You will be automatically enrolled in the NEM program when you request turn-on service, and you will receive additional information via email.

If the renewable energy system is still under the NEM eligibility period and the system capacity is greater than 30 kW, you will need to sign a new NEM Interconnection Agreement (Form 16-344). If the system is over three years old, it must be inspected (Form 14-903) before you can enroll in the NEM program. We will mail an Agreement and Inspection Form soon after you move in, or you can download the forms and email them to Customer.Generation@sce.com.

Customers taking service under NEM 2.0 are set up for NEM billing after their application is approved and a Permission to Operate (PTO) is issued. If you are not already on a Time-Of-Use (TOU) rate, as required by the NEM program, your rate will be changed to TOU-D-4-9. You can change your rate to another TOU option that may better serve your needs. For more information, please check out our Residential and BusinessTOU rate plans.

As a residential customer, you will continue to receive monthly bills that will list your non-energy related charges, detail the energy delivered by SCE to you, and any NEM credits for the excess generation you have sent back into the grid. Any excess energy your system delivers to the grid is credited back to your account based on the period (on-peak/off-peak) that the energy was generated.

There are two different billing options available to you as a NEM customer:

• Monthly Billing Option (MBO) – You will receive a monthly statement for both your energy and non-energy-related charges - both of which will be due upon receipt. If you have a surplus credit for your excess energy, it will roll over to the following bill period up to Month 12. The MBO includes a settlement of monthly energy charges and credits (in $’s) over the entire 12-month billing period, which means any remaining dollar-value energy credits are used to offset energy charges billed to the customer earlier in the billing period. You may have You may have selected this option during your NEM application process, or you can opt-in to MBO by logging-in and submitted this form.
• Annual Billing Option (ABO) – You will receive a monthly statement tracking energy charges, but only your non-energy charges will be due upon receipt. You have the option of paying the energy charges on your statement but are not required to do so. Your bills will detail the running balance of your charges/credits, which will roll over every month up to Month 12. If you have a remaining balance on your energy charges, it will be due at the time of your settlement bill. If you prefer to pay your new energy charges monthly instead of annually, you can opt-in to MBO by logging in and submitting this form.

If your system is sized according to your usage and you manage your energy to maximize the off-peak period of your TOU rate, you should have little to no balance at the end of the relevant period. For either ABO or MBO, you may have a credit under Net Surplus Compensation (NSC). For more details on how NSC works, please refer to the NSC section below in the FAQ.

Once the settlement bill has been issued, any rolling credit balance will be zeroed out and the new 12-month billing period will begin on the next regularly scheduled meter read date.

If you have additional questions about your meter or bill, or the billing options, please contact our Net Metering Customer Call Center:

Residential: 1-866-701-7868

Commercial: 1-866-701-7869

All customers participating in NEM must have a compatible meter to register the amount of electricity consumed from the grid, as well as any surplus energy your system generates and exports back to SCE. If your current meter is not compatible, we will replace or reprogram the meter as part of enrolling you in NEM.

Although processing times may vary based on application volume, simple and standard (solar-only) interconnection requests that have all the correct information and required documents, may receive Permission to Operate within 10 business days. Complex interconnection requests, i.e., paired storage or non-standard metering, will need more time to process as they require additional technical and engineering review.

We strongly recommend that you or your contractor submit the application, Single Line Diagram, signed Interconnection Agreement, final electrical permit approval issued by the local building department, and any other applicable documentation all at once to expedite the review of your interconnection request. This allows ample time for us to evaluate program eligibility, conduct a technical review of the proposed system and initiate a meter change, if necessary. If a meter change is required, we will arrange the installation with our local planning department before PTO is issued.

If you have an open and active NEM application in progress, you need to meet the following criteria:

• Install NEM-eligible renewable energy system, e.g., solar PV, wind, fuel cell, etc. (the generating system’s capacity must be sized to the customer’s onsite historical usage).
• Have a compatible meter. Customers with a SMART meter already meet this requirement, although SCE must still program the meter. Customers who prefer not to have a SMART meter (opt-out customers) may have other metering options (subject to availability by region and inventory).
• The generating system must be sized to offset, but not exceed the customer’s onsite usage. In general, SCE estimates the annual generation (kWh) of your proposed system size and compares it to the previous 12 months of your kWh usage history.

NEM customers are required to take service on a Time-of-Use (TOU) rate. If you are not already on a TOU rate, your account will be defaulted to TOU-D-4-9. To learn more about the available TOU rate options, please click here.

Net Energy Metering (NEM) is available to SCE customers who produce their own electricity through an eligible renewable generating system. The NEM option allows you to receive credit(s) for the surplus electricity you supply to the electric grid. This credit is applied to your energy bill to offset all, or part of the costs associated with the energy you consume from the grid each month.

Once enrolled in the NEM program, SCE uses a bi-directional meter to track the amount of electricity exported to the grid by your generating system as well as the amount of electricity you consume from the power grid during each billing period. SCE will then calculate the “net” difference between your consumption and the exported energy to determine the final charges for your electricity.

We will continue to bill your account under your current NEM rate plan until your 20-year legacy period expires, or until your account becomes ineligible to remain on your current NEM rate plan (whichever comes first). We will then automatically transfer your account to the new Solar Billing Plan.