All customers participating in the Solar Billing Plan 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 the Solar Billing Plan.

If the renewable energy system is less than 30 kilowatts (kW), you do not need to do anything. You will be automatically enrolled in the applicable rate plan when you request turn-on service.

If the renewable energy system capacity is greater than 30 kW, you will need to sign a 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 applicable rate plan. 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.

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.

Under the Solar Billing Plan, customers can oversize their solar systems up to 50% of their total annual usage but are required to attest that they will reach that usage level within the year after they receive Permission to Operate (PTO). As noted above, the credits will be based on the net generation channel multiplied by the applicable Energy Export Credit (EEC) rate each billing period. At the end of the relevant period (12 months starting with the first bill after PTO), the sum of all energy charges are calculated (A) and the sum of all energy export credits are calculated (B). If the value of the energy export credits (B) is greater than the sum of all energy charges (A), the excess energy export credits are forfeited, and an adjustment will be made on the annual settlement bill.

Electronic signatures are allowed. Please note that if e-signatures were used in the Consumer Protection Guide, your contractor must also submit an electronic signature audit document to verify the validity of the signatures. Such documents typically include the: 

• Time stamps for each signature/initial
• Email addresses of the signing parties
• IP addresses of the signing parties

Any authorized signatory for such entities can sign the Consumer Protection Guide.

Only pages with signature/initial sections are required. This includes pages 1-4 (customer initials) and pages 23-24 (customer/solar provider signatures).

Acceptable file documents include: .docx, .xlsx, .csv, and .pdf files, whereas image files are not. While a clear picture of any of the required documents is acceptable for upload, the file containing the picture must be in .pdf format.

The SBP does not have a discharge requirement; however, please note that incentive programs, such as the Self-Generating Incentive Program (SGIP) may require battery discharge at regular intervals.

It depends on the size of your storage device. If your storage device has an inverter rating greater than 10 kW, you must adhere to the metering requirements listed in the Interconnection Handbook. If your storage device has an inverter rating of 10 kW or less, no additional metering is required.

Yes. However, for systems that are less than 10 kW and do not have a Net Generation Output Meter (NGOM), Energy Export Credits are capped in accordance with the Paired Storage estimation methodology, as described in the tariff. 

For systems over 10 kW, a NGOM, or other power control option, will be required to meter the generation of the system and properly identify any energy exported to the grid, specifically from the battery component. No credits are granted for exports that exceed the recorded generation from the renewable system.

If your project requires, or you request a NGOM, SCE will internally begin this process once your project moves to Engineering Review. Your contractor should keep you updated with the status of your NGOM as it moves through the installation process.

Accounts with Permission to Operate are typically set up for SBP billing within a few billing cycles. If you experience a delay that exceeds this timeframe, it may be due to an instance where SCE is unable to reprogram or replace the existing meter. Your non-SBP bill will still track the amount of electricity used from the electric grid but will not reflect the Energy Export Credits supplied to the electric grid, until the issue is resolved. The credit(s) for the surplus energy you supply to the electric grid will appear on your first SBP bill. For billing inquiries, please contact SCE Customer Service at 1-866-701-7868 for NEM residential customers or 1-866-701-7869 for NEM business customers. To learn more about how to read your SBP bill statement, please visit the Guide to Your Solar Bill.

The Solar Billing Plan tracks your charges and credits over an annual cycle, which is called your “Relevant Period.” At the end of each Relevant Period, you will receive the final bill in the cycle: your settlement bill. To “settle” your Relevant Period, any unused Energy Export Credits (EECs) are applied to eligible charges in the current month and, if applicable, previous months. After that, remaining EECs will offset any Energy Export Credit Charge Adjustment, if applicable.

Once your eligible charges and EECs have been settled, you may or may not be eligible for Net Surplus Compensation (NSC). If you generated more kilowatt-hours (kWh) than you used during the Relevant Period, and your year-to-date NSC is greater than zero, you’ll be credited at the NSC rate per kWh.

Net Surplus Compensation (NSC) is equal to the Net Surplus Compensation Rate (NSCR) multiplied by your Net Surplus Energy kilowatt-hours (kWh). The NSC rate is based on current market prices and varies by month. Details on the NSCR rates can be found here.

The credit amount indicated on your bill is calculated using the full retail rate for energy used on-site. This rate includes generation, transmission, distribution, and funding for public programs. Under NSC, SCE pays you the market rate, comparable to what we pay other energy producers, as required by California Assembly Bill 920.

Over the course of your 12-month Relevant Period, Energy Export Credits (EEC) will be applied to the amount of electricity a customer exports to the grid and will reflect the electricity’s value to the electric grid during each hour of the day. Energy Export Credits will be calculated by taking the kilowatt hours generated by the customer’s generating system that is exported hourly to the grid multiplied by the Energy Export Credit prices. These EEC prices will vary hourly throughout the day and can be found here for both Pacific Time and Universal Time. Customers who enroll in the Solar Billing Plan before January 1, 2028, will have fixed EEC prices for the first nine years of operation. The nine years is referred to as the lock-in period.

Each year, the EEC Prices are calculated using the CPUC Avoided Cost Calculator (ACC) approved as of January 1 of the calculation year (the “vintage year”). For each “vintage year”, the simple average EEC Price is calculated for each month of a 9-year lock in period, and it is differentiated by hour (24 hours) and by weekdays and weekend/holidays. In addition, each hourly EEC Price is broken down in two components: (1) the Generation EEC Price (energy, cap and trade and generation capacity) component, and (2) the Delivery Service EEC Price (transmission, distribution, greenhouse adder and methane leakage) component. 

To learn more about EEC Pricing:

• EEC Factors (UTC) - CSV File
• Understanding Export Pricing

At the end of your 12-month Relevant Period, if you have supplied more electricity than you have used, you may be compensated with an on-bill credit or a check for the NSC paid at the market rate.

Once the NSC is calculated and issued to the account holder, the balance will be zeroed out and the new 12-month billing period will begin on the next regularly scheduled meter read date.

You may elect to change the start date of your 12-month Relevant Period once only for the lifetime of the account, by completing and returning a One-Time Relevant Period Change Request Form (14-936).

You will be responsible for selecting the date of the requested change. We must receive this form at least 60 days before the requested start date of the new 12-month Relevant Period. When the start date is changed, your existing 12-month Relevant Period will end, generating your settlement bill, and your new 12-month Relevant Period will begin. Under no circumstances will a 12-month Relevant Period extend beyond 12 months.

Yes. The following customers are ineligible for Net Surplus Compensation: 

• Direct Access (DA) customers 
• Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) customers 

There are several ways you can minimize the electricity you receive from SCE to supplement your solar generating system. The best thing you can do is be mindful of the time of day and weather – your system won’t be generating when it’s dark out, and it will produce less when there’s cloud cover. Even small changes can make a difference to your bill. We’ve listed a few recommendations below to help you make the most of your solar-produced power:

• Consider investing in a battery storage system to keep more of your self-generated energy for use at night.
• Shift major appliance and equipment use (like a pool pump or washer-dryer) to off-peak daytime hours (8 a.m. - 4 p.m.) when your solar generating system is active.
• Try not to use too many appliances simultaneously during the day, so your system can keep up.
• Periodically have your solar panels professionally cleaned.

Remember that if you make changes or investments like buying electric vehicles or installing a pool, your energy consumption will increase. If your system was not sized with these investments in mind, you’ll either need to upgrade your solar generating system or use more energy from SCE.

You can view your usage history by logging in to My Account. You’ll be able to see both the energy you’ve consumed from the grid, as well as the excess energy you’ve generated. Reviewing your usage history can help identify when to shift your energy use, which can have an impact on your bill.

Some contractors may offer or provide their customers with a monitoring system. Monitoring services typically measure the total energy generated directly by the renewable system. SCE service meters do not track all the energy your renewable system generates, only the surplus energy that flows out of your home or business and back to the electric grid. SCE cannot track or advise how much overall energy your system produces.

For billing inquiries please contact SCE Customer Service at 1-866-701-7868 for residential customers or 1-866-701-7869 for business customers.

If you have an existing GMA and the combined system size is less than 15.6 kW, you can still use your existing GMA. However, if the new combined system is greater than 15.6 kW, the GMA cannot be used, and the new array must be connected to the service panel through a load-side connection.

No, GMAs are not designed for use with paired-storage systems.

Any change to the point of interconnection requires a new application. Once your new application is submitted, as part of the interconnection process, SCE will email you and/or your contractor to schedule the removal of the GMA.

An arrangement includes all eligible benefiting accounts and the generating account served by the renewable generator. There is no limit to the number of Service Accounts that can be included in an arrangement.

A generating account is the account that is connected to the renewable generator. It may or may not have a load other than that of the generator.

A benefiting account is an eligible Service Account that is included and receives SBP energy credits as described in the SBP-A arrangement. Benefiting accounts may be of a different rate class and/or schedule but must have the same SCE customer name.

As with any other interconnection project, the generating account meter must be capable of measuring the excess generation exported to the grid in 15-minute intervals. Once your interconnection request is submitted, SCE will determine if the correct metering is in place for the Solar Billing Plan. If needed, we will set up proper metering.

All accounts included in a SBP-A arrangement will be billed individually. Summary billing is not available for SBP-A accounts.

All SBP-A accounts will be billed monthly for both energy and non-energy charges.

There is a one-time $16 automated billing set-up fee for every account in the SBP-A arrangement. Any account added to an SBP-A arrangement is subject to this one-time fee. There is also a $2.70 monthly billing fee per account.

If it is determined that distribution system upgrades are required to interconnect an SBP-A generator, the customer would be responsible for the cost if they are the only beneficiary of the required upgrade. For example, if the transformer only serves your property and accounts. If the transformer serves other customers, you would not be responsible for any distribution system upgrade costs.

You can change the accounts (either add or remove) included in an SBP-A arrangement once in a 12-month billing period.

The removal of an account from an SBP-A arrangement will trigger a settlement bill for that account only. The remaining accounts on the arrangement will continue on their existing 12-month billing period.

Adding an account does not trigger a new 12-month billing period.

Notification of any modification to the SBP-A arrangement must be provided to us via email at least 60 days before the change takes effect. The change will remain in effect for a minimum of 12 months. Documentation should be emailed to Customer.Generation@sce.com.

All accounts in an SBP-A arrangement must be either (1) all Bundled Service Accounts; or (2) all Direct Access (DA) Service Accounts served by the same Energy Service Provider (ESP); or (3) all Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Service Accounts served by the same CCA. You can have more than one SBP-A arrangement, but accounts may not be shared across multiple arrangements.

No. We will allocate kWh generation to all your accounts in the aggregation arrangement throughout the 12-month billing period so that energy credits are applied appropriately. However, there may be instances where energy credits are leftover and cannot be applied to other Service Accounts.

No, energy credits will not be carried over to the next 12-month billing period.

Customers who are currently interconnected under a standard SBP contract can change to an SBP-A contract provided they have multiple electric accounts on the same property as the renewable generator, or the properties are contiguous or adjacent. All the properties must be solely owned, leased, or rented by the SCE customer of record. 

To initiate this request the customer must send the following documents to Customer.Generation@sce.com with the subject line of “SBP-A Program Change <Project Number>”: 

• Form 14-937
• Plot Plan
• A parcel map which clearly identifies the locations of the benefiting account meters 
• Property Lease/Ownership Agreement(s) (if applicable) 

Yes, SBP-A customers are eligible for Net Surplus Compensation.

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.
• However, only adding an eligible new Energy Storage System (ESS) as an expansion to your system will not affect the remainder of your 20-year NEM eligibility period.

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).

No. The Solar Billing Plan will not change the current interconnection process and related fees. It will also not introduce any new interconnection fees.  

The Virtual Solar Billing Plan and Solar Billing Plan Aggregation programs are available to new applicants effective, February 15, 2024. 

Schedule NEM-V-ST (Virtual Net Energy Metering for Multi-Tenant and Multi-Meter Properties) is available to customers who applied on or before the February 14, 2024, deadline. 

Customers who submitted a valid Interconnection Request under the Virtual NEM or NEM Aggregation programs on or before the April 14, 2023, deadline will have a 9-year eligibility period. 

Existing Virtual NEM and NEM Aggregation customers will remain on their current rate plan and will retain the 20-year eligibility period.