Ending up in PGE's SUE Tier will cost you big money!

Last year Cecil the Lion was hunted and killed!

At the same time, the CPUC announced a 5 year plan to not only show utility rate increases, but to also show a restructuring of utility rate tiers and how it will affect the homeowner.  The media coined this action as the "Greediest Grab Ever".

PGE Rate Structures

Beginning in 2016, PG&E will be reducing the number of tiers in the standard rate plan from 4 to 2 (reducing to three tiers in 2016 and to two tiers with a Super User Electric charge in 2017) as part of Residential Rate Reform efforts.
The two-tier rate structure remains in effect for gas usage.

Electric

Please notice that in 2016 tiers 2 and 3 are combined, which results in 3 tiers, instead of 4.  In 2017, PGE introduces a SUE tier (Super User Electric) and combines tiers 2, 3 and 4. Notice the SUE tier is the highest rate.

Now look at one of Energy Saving Pros customer's PGE bill for the last year...

Depending on the month, this customer uses between 1149 and 2276 kWh per month. 

According to a PGE customer service rep, she tells me that they calculate your kWh according to your region and season.  What this means is that if you live in a hotter area, you will be allotted a different amount of kWh usage than someone who lives out of your region.  The same goes for a region that is cooler.

Using the example above and taking into consideration how much energy he uses, his rate plan, the season, the time in which he uses his energy, the day of week, his region or city where he resides, he could be spending the bulk of his time in the SUE tier, being charged the highest rate.
 
This is a smart reason why you should consider solar now!