 |
  |
  |
  |
|
 |
|
|
|
Residential billing
As with all customers who have their own electric generation equipment, residential Solar/PV customers are billed under LPC’s RGEN (Residential Self Generation) rate. This rate accounts for the energy LPC delivers to the customer and energy that the customer’s system delivers to LPC. This is recorded on an ongoing basis via our net metering process. Learn more about LPC's residential rates.
Commercial billing
Commercial Solar/PV customers are billed under LPC’s CEGE (Commercial Energy Self Generation) rate for smaller users who consume under 50kW of maximum demand & CDGE (Commercial Energy Self Generation) rate for larger users who consume over 50kW. These rates account for energy delivered to the customer and energy that the customer’s system delivers to LPC. This is recorded on an ongoing basis via our net metering process. Learn more about LPC's commercial rates.
Metering differences
Customers without generation systems only consume electricity and their meter is used to record the energy being delivered to them. Because self generation system customers have the ability to both produce and consume energy, they require a meter that can record energy flow in both directions. The customer is billed for the net amount of energy they received in a billing period.
Generation Reimbursement
If the customer delivers more energy to LPC than they receive from LPC in a given billing cycle, they will receive a credit that is rolled over to the following month. At the end of each year, LPC issues a check to the customer based on an annual reconciliation of any remaining credit. Net excess energy provided by the customer is valued at the retail electric rate.
Monthly customers charge
For self generation customers, most of the fixed costs for the utility’s electric distribution system have been placed into the monthly customer charge and removed from the kWh charge. This results in a self generation customer’s fixed monthly customer charge being more with a corresponding decrease in their kWh charge.
Unlike a customer who only consumes electricity, a self generating customer uses the electrical distribution system in two ways: drawing power from the grid and putting power back onto the grid. If charges designed to collect for the utilities fixed costs were left in the kWh charge for a self generating customer, and that customer generated as much or more electricity over the year than they consumed, it would result in under collecting for their share of the electric distribution system costs. Since LPC is a non-profit customer owned utility, this would result in other customers having to subsidize this usage. The self generation rate structure is designed to help eliminate this unintended cross subsidization.
Usage balance
Whenever more energy is delivered to LPC than is received from LPC, it is seen as a negative delivery amount. The billing system does not recognize negative numbers and automatically shows the kWh usage of zero but the correct billing information is used when establishing the bill. However, LPC does send detailed monthly reports to all generation customers who provide an e-mail address.
Energy use reporting
To accurately show this activity balance, LPC tracks the data in a monthly report that covers the following information:
This activity balance report is e-mailed to each commercial and residential customer on the RGEN rate. Customers who do not receive this information and would like to can contact LPC at 303-651-8586 to sign up.