Utility Bills
ETB Monitor shows a detailed breakdown of how much the site’s electric bill would be before and after the renewable energy project, as well as which technologies contributed to the savings. You can view these details by navigating to your site, clicking on the “Utility Bills” tab, and then selecting a billing period from the table.
Bill Overview
This section of the user interface provides a high-level breakdown of the bill. You can observe the total savings for the billing period, the current rate tariff of the site, the rate tariff that would have applied if the renewable energy project hadn’t been commissioned, along with a high-level breakdown of the savings from solar, battery, and rate switch, as well as the remaining bill amount to be paid.
Energy Usage & Peak Demand Charts
These charts show a breakdown of the imported energy, exported energy, and peak demand at the site by time-of-use period. The following components are included in the charts:
Detailed Bill Breakdown
This section of the user interface provides a comprehensive breakdown of the utility bill by charge type, energy usage over each time-of-use period, peak demand by time-of-use period, as well as a breakdown of the factors contributing to each line item. Each row in the table is created by calculating a utility bill using a combination of a load profile and a rate tariff. The resulting bill is then subtracted from the row above it to create a savings metric. The following components will be included in the tables depending on the specifics of the energy project completed at the site:
Original Bill:
Description: This is what you would have paid to the utility if you had not completed your energy project.
Load Profile: Gross Energy Usage
Rate Tariff: Rate Tariff Without Solar + Battery
Solar PV:
Description: This is the utility bill savings you received from the solar portion of your energy project.
Load Profile: Gross Energy Usage – Solar PV Generation
Rate Tariff: Rate Tariff Without Solar + Battery
Rate Switch:
Description: This is the utility bill savings you received from switching rate tariffs.
Load Profile: Gross Energy Usage – Solar PV Generation
Rate Tariff: Your Rate Tariff
Battery ESS:
Description: This is the utility bill savings you received from your battery ESS.
Load Profile: Gross Energy Usage – Solar PV Generation – Battery ESS
Rate Tariff: Your Rate Tariff
Final:
Description: This the remaining bill to be paid to the utility after accounting for the entire energy project. It is calculated by subtracting each savings row from the Original row.
FAQ:
- The bill from my utility doesn’t match what I see in ETB Monitor. What should I do?
- There are a variety of factors that can cause a bill to marginally off, such as metering location. If the bill is within 3%, this is the likely cause. If there is a more significant deviation, then the following steps should be taken:
- Validate the Rate Schedule – Ensure that the rate schedule and all the rate attributes being shown in Monitor match what your utility bill shows.
- Validate the Meter Readings – This can be easily visualized in Monitor for sites in supported utilities by using ETB Monitor’s Green Button Connect My Data feature. This can also be done by comparing the energy usage and peak demand on the bill to the values shown in the Detailed Bill Breakdown section of the Monitor user interface. If neither of these options are available, then a manual comparison of interval usage data will be required.
- There are a variety of factors that can cause a bill to marginally off, such as metering location. If the bill is within 3%, this is the likely cause. If there is a more significant deviation, then the following steps should be taken:
- Why is my rate switch savings negative?
- If your site has elected to switch rate tariffs, it is highly likely that the rate switch savings over the full calendar year and the life of the project will be financially beneficial. However, there may be billing periods where the rate switch has a negative financial impact. A common case for this is switching from AL-TOU to DG-R in California’s San Diego Gas and Electric utility. This rate switch trades higher energy costs throughout the year in exchange for lower demand charges. However, during the summer season (June 1 – October 31), the increased cost of energy on DG-R during the On Peak time-of-use window is drastically higher than AL-TOU, resulting in the following rate switch analysis:
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- November 1 - May 31 - Rate Switch Savings is Positive.
- June 1 - October 31 - Rate Switch Savings is Negative.
- Full Calendar Year – Total Rate Switch Savings is Positive. The rate switch savings from November 1 to May 31 are greater than the negative rate switch impact from June 1 to October 31, so switching to DG-R has a positive financial net benefit.
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- If over a longer duration the rate switch savings continues to have a negative impact on your utility bill, then switching rate tariffs should be evaluated.
- If your site has elected to switch rate tariffs, it is highly likely that the rate switch savings over the full calendar year and the life of the project will be financially beneficial. However, there may be billing periods where the rate switch has a negative financial impact. A common case for this is switching from AL-TOU to DG-R in California’s San Diego Gas and Electric utility. This rate switch trades higher energy costs throughout the year in exchange for lower demand charges. However, during the summer season (June 1 – October 31), the increased cost of energy on DG-R during the On Peak time-of-use window is drastically higher than AL-TOU, resulting in the following rate switch analysis: