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Electric Grid Interconnection

9-01-2019

Reapplication Process For Customers Impacted by a Natural or Man-Made Disaster

For: www.egi-pge.com

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Table of Contents

Contents

Walkthrough Goals ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

I. Login ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

II. Starting a New Application ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

III. Select Program and Account - Selecting the correct Program and Sub-Program ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

IV. Facility and Account Information .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

V. Project Contact Info ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8

V.1. Customer and Generating Facility Information – Generating Facility Account Information ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

V.2. Customer and Generating Facility Information...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

V.3. Customer and Generating Facility Information – Contractor Information ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

V.4. Customer and Generating Facility Information – Authorized Contact Information ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

VI. Export ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12

VI.1. Export Information – Interconnection Service Requirements + Power Export + Secondary Networks ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12

VII. Equipment ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13

VII.1. Equipment Details - Physical Change to Existing Facility ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13

VIII. Customer Sector - Lineside Tap and Warranty..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17

IX. Document Upload .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

X. Review - Application Review .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 19

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Walkthrough Goals

The purpose of this walkthrough is to describe the reapplication process involved with resuming service on the Net Energy Metering (NEM) Tariff after being removed from a NEM

rate due a Natural or Man-Made Disaster (see Special Condition 10 of the NEM Tariff and NEM2 Tariff). This process is applicable for all the following cases:

A. No system destruction—the generating facility (e.g. solar system) was not impacted B. Partial system destruction—part of the original facility was impacted (e.g. solar panels were intact, but the inverter was impacted) C. Total system replacement—the original facility was completely impacted

DISCLAIMER: Customers should be aware that PG&E’s NEM tariffs are governed by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Therefore, PG&E is unable to make special accommodations or requests that the Tariffs do not expressly permit. In compliance with the NEM Tariffs currently in effect as of the creation of this document, Customers who are reapplying should take note of the following:

1. The replacement system must be sized to generate no more than 12 months of historic, or estimated, usage in kilowatt-hours (kWh)

2. The twenty (20) year NEM grandfathering commences from the issuance of the first Permission To Operate (PTO) and does not pause or restart under any circumstance - Example: The original system was approved in 2015, was impacted by a natural or man-made disaster in 2018 and was replaced in 2019 with a new system sized within to

generate no more than 12 months of historic, or estimated, usage. Although the system will receive a new PTO as a result of the reapplication process, the 20-year NEM grandfathering does not pause during the time of rebuilding, nor does it restart once the new PTO is issued in 2019. As a result, on the annual True-Up in twenty-first (21st) year, which in this example is 2036 (21st year starting from 2015), the customer will be transitioned to the NEM Tariff in effect at that time.

For additional questions associated with 20-year NEM Grandfathering, please call the PG&E Solar Customer Service Center at 1-877-743-4112. For questions about the application process, please email Electric Grid Interconnection (EGI) at Rule21Gen@pge.com. Sincerely,

The PG&E Interconnection Team

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I. Login

If you are a new user, please select the register button. Otherwise, click the Login button to the right of the Register button which will open the prompt above. Please input your username and password and click Sign In.

If you forget your username or password, please click the applicable button on the prompt and follow the directions to retrieve the relevant information.

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II. Starting a New Application

To begin a new application, click the START NEW APPLICATION button.

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III. Select Program and Account - Selecting the correct Program and Sub-Program

Click the yellow arrow button (>) for additional details of the various programs that are available. Most residential customers are approved under Standard NEM, so this guide is modeled after that process.

Steps 1. Select “Standard NEM (with Modifications or

Energy Storage)” as the Program type. 2. Select “Standard NEM Modification” as the

Sub-Program.

• Reminder: This walkthrough assumes that there is no storage and is not a NEM Aggregation (NEMA) application. If either is present, please select the appropriate Sub-Program.

3. Select whether the generating system was self- installed (i.e. installed by the Customer) or installed by a licensed contractor.

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4. Select Yes to the question “Were you impacted as described in the NEM tariff?”. This will let us know that you are seeking to use this provision.

5. Select Physical Change to Existing Facility.

• Note: This is the appropriate selection in all cases; it is true even if the system was not impacted.

6. Select the applicable Energy Service Provider. • For more information on Direct Access (DA)

please review this link • For more information on Community Choice

Aggregation (CCA) please review this link

7. Input the Electric Service Agreement Number and Electric Badge (Meter) Number associated with the facility where the generation has been installed or is being installed.

• Review your most recent PG&E Energy Statement to locate your 10-Digit Electric Service Agreement ID and Meter Number. Since some accounts can have multiple electric services (electric service agreement IDs), please ensure that you identify the correct combination.

Click SAVE AND CONTINUE once you have inputted the relevant information.

NOTE: Electric Service Agreement Number (Service Agreement ID/SAID) and Badge Number (Meter #) are located on your bill in the “Electric Charges” section. Please review the bill screenshot above for assistance locating this information. If you need assistance getting the correct combination after reviewing your most recent Energy Statement, please contact the Solar Customer Service Center at 877-743-4112.

IV. Facility and Account Information

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The Electric Service Agreement Number and Electric Badge (Meter #) you provided on the previous screen will retrieve the PG&E account information and auto-populate it on this screen.

Please review the information on this screen to confirm that the portal has retrieved the correct information. If there are any discrepancies, please contact the Solar Customer Service Center for assistance.

Note: For Authorized Third-Party entities completing the interconnection request on behalf of the PG&E Customer of Record, please input a unique project name to ensure accurate tracking of your project. This name will be used to refer to the generating facility during discussions and emails with PG&E project staff.

V. Project Contact Info

V.1. Customer and Generating Facility Information – Generating Facility Account Information

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To streamline the application process, the portal allows for pre-populated contact information to be selected from a drop-down menu. To access the menu, click the drop-down menu. Select the appropriate contact information for the customer. It is recommended that the Customer’s email address be provided so that approval to operate the system (PTO) can immediately be sent via email.

V.2. Customer and Generating Facility Information

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V.3. Customer and Generating Facility Information – Contractor Information

Select the appropriate contact information for the contractor. Note the picture to the left corresponds to option A below.

For more information on the options, please see below.

If the customer is also the contractor, select “the Customer” from the menu. In this scenario, the customer has or will self-install the system and is serving as the contractor.

If the person submitting this application is the contractor or contractor representative, select “me (Use Login Info)”. The system will use the details used in the creation of the login of the account.

If the applicant prefers that correspondence meant for the contractor be sent to any other physical or email address, please select “Other” and manually fill in the customer contact information

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Select the appropriate contact information for the Authorized Contact. The authorized contact is a person authorized to make decisions relating to the generation project, which may be the same as a licensed contractor.

For more information on the options, please see below:

If the Customer and the Authorized contact are the same person, then select “the Customer”. In this scenario, PG&E will reach out to the customer with questions or decisions associated with the project.

If the customer has given the Contractor the authorization to act on their behalf, select “the Contractor” from the drop down. In this scenario, PG&E will reach out to the contractor with questions or decisions associated with the project.

If the Applicant has been given the authorization to

act on the customer’s behalf, select “Me (Use Login Info)”. In this scenario PG&E will reach out to the contact used to create the portal login.

If the applicant prefers that correspondence meant for the Authorized Contact be sent to any other physical or email address, select “Other” and manually fill in the authorized contact’s information.

Click SAVE AND CONTINUE once you have inputted the relevant information.

V.4. Customer and Generating Facility Information – Authorized Contact Information

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VI. Export

VI.1. Export Information – Interconnection Service Requirements + Power Export + Secondary Networks

If the generating project is using its existing service, please select “Existing Service”. Note: This is by far the most common selection for Residential sites.

Enter the project’s: 1. Generation Nameplate Export (kW). This

value should be the maximum possible export that the facility could export assuming that there is little to no customer load.

2. Maximum Expected Facility Net Export (kW) value. This expected export value that will be sent back to the Grid after first service all customer load.

If the installation is on a secondary network in San Francisco or Oakland, the portal will automatically notify you with either “yes” or “No”. For more information on Secondary Networks, please visit this link.

Click SAVE AND CONTINUE

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VII. Equipment

VII.1. Equipment Details - Physical Change to Existing Facility Since your project is an existing generating facility, the

ACE-IT portal will automatically retrieve the generating equipment from PG&E’s database. The system is based on information provided to PG&E at the time of the previous interconnection and may not have all equipment identified.

PG&E’s equipment list is based on the current list of approved equipment as shown on the Go Solar

California website located here. Therefore, if the portal is unable to retrieve all of the information associated with the existing generating equipment and some or all of the existing generating equipment is still present at the site, please enter the existing generators. Important Reminder: the equipment listed on this screen should include everything that is currently interconnected to the PG&E meter.

SYSTEM Inputs (e.g. Inverters)

Please select the appropriate:

1. Program (Standard NEM)

2. Generator Size (less than 30 kW)

3. Backup Generator Response

• Note: Most likely, the response here will be “No” unless the system is designed (physical, firmware, software) to operate when the PG&E grid is down. A common inverter where “Yes” might be applicable is if the inverter belongs to a storage device.

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Inverter Inputs (continued)

Please select the appropriate:

4. Manufacturer and Model

• Note: After selecting the Manufacturer and Model, the Nameplate Rating, Inverter Efficiency, Output Voltage Rating, Phase, and Total Gen will automatically be populated with the information currently listed from the Go Solar California equipment list (as mentioned above). If your equipment is not found in the ACE-IT portal, click the “Enter Manufacturer Not In List” and enter the information.

5. Quantity

6. Power Factor, Power Factor Adjustment Max, and Power Factor Adjustment Min

• Note: Please consult the manufacturers information sheet or contact the manufacturer to determine these fields.

Additional Inverters? If your project has multiple types of inverters, add them separately using the ADD SYSTEM button beneath the “POWER MODULE” section.

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POWER MODULE Inputs (e.g. PV panels)

As mentioned previously, the Portal will attempt to retrieve the existing generating facility, including the POWER MODULES currently connected to the system. As a result, the Tech Type, Generator Type, and Fuel Type will all be populated.

Please select the appropriate:

1. Manufacturer and Model

• Note: After selecting the Manufacturer and Model, the Inverter Efficiency, PTC Rating, Nameplate Rating, and Total Gen will automatically be populated with the information currently listed from the Go Solar California equipment list (as mentioned above). If your equipment is not found in the ACE-IT portal, click the “Enter Manufacturer Not In List” and enter the information.

2. Software Version

• Note: Please consult the manufacturers information sheet or contact the manufacturer to determine this field.

3. Quantity

Additional POWER MODULES? If your project has multiple types of power modules (e.g. PV panels), add them separately using the ADD POWER MODULE button.

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AC DISCONNECT Inputs

If an AC Disconnect is included, please select the Manufacturer, Model, and input the Quantity for the AC Disconnect. The Rating will be auto-populated per PG&E’s database.

• Note: As with the SYSTEM and POWER MODULE, if your equipment is not found in the ACE-IT portal, click the “Enter Manufacturer Not In List” and enter the information.

Additional AC DISCONNECTS? If your project has multiple types of AC Disconnects, add them separately using the ADD AC DISCONNECT button.

Click the SAVE AND CONTINUE button after all equipment details have been entered.

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A Lineside Tap is normally used when there is insufficient space in the customer’s existing panel (i.e. all of the breakers are occupied). In such a case, there may be an option to interconnect after the PG&E electric meter and ahead of the customer’s main panel. Note: Most residential sites do not have a line side tap.

If you do have a Lineside Tap, select yes. If not, select no.

Warranty Your project must be certified to operate for 10 years. Choose whether your project has:

• A warranty of at least 10 years that has been provided on all equipment and on its installation;

• A 10-year service warranty or executed agreement ensuring proper maintenance and continued system performance has been provided.

Click SAVE AND CONTINUE

VIII. Customer Sector - Lineside Tap and Warranty

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Please use this page to upload the relevant documents needed for PG&E to review your project. This includes:

• the Single Line Drawing SLD

• Site Plans

• Line Tap Variance Letter (if applicable) and Variance Photos (if applicable)

• Additional Technical Documentation

Verification Information As part of your interconnection application, please ensure that you upload two additional “Technical Documentation”:

1. A completed Interconnection Agreement (Form 79-1151A) for Standard NEM is located here.

• Note: For NEM2 Standard NEM customers, the Interconnection Agreement is located here.

AND

2. A PDF document that provides evidence that the customer was impacted by a Natural or Man-Made Disaster.

• Note: Microsoft Word documents can be changed into PDF documents by using the “Save As” function and selecting the document type as “PDF”.

Please remember that files have a 10MB size limit. Click SAVE AND CONTINUE

IX. Document Upload

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Please Review the details of your application and verify that the information is correct. NOTE: It is much easier to update the information at this step then it is to do so after the application has been submitted.

To edit any of the data on the Review page, click the applicable blue chevron (page) at the top of the page.

IMPORTANT: Once an application has been submitted you cannot edit it through the portal.

X. Review - Application Review

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You can review the documents without going back to the Document Upload section by clicking the view buttons in the Review form.

Once you are ready to submit your application to PG&E, click the SUBMIT button.