NEM 2.0 vs NEM 3.0: What are the big differences?

When NEM 3.0 arrives in California on April 15, 2023, we’ll be waving goodbye to a golden period of solar.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted on December 15, 2022 to enable Investor Owned Utilities - namely Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, and San Diego Gas & Electric - to credit solar customers significantly less for the clean energy they feedback into the grid.

This is really the only difference between NEM 2.0 and NEM 3.0: the average value of your sustainably generated kWh will decrease by about 50% if you don’t use it directly or store it for later. If it goes back into the grid, it will be worth so much less than it currently is.

So the project economics of commercial solar, which for so long have been considered among the best investments a business can make in California, will be less attractive. In fact, the current payback period of two years is likely to go to nine years.

Our advice right now is pretty clear: If you’ve ever thought about solar in the past, now is the time to revisit it. Your business can be “grandfathered in” to NEM 2.0 until April 14, 2023, but with engineering required, Sunistics’ own deadline is February 28, 2023. This will give us enough time to create and submit an accurate planset to the AHJ.

It’s a shame we find ourselves in this position as an industry and as a state, but we will continue to fight for cleaner, better energy for all, regardless.

Find out how you can be “grandfathered in” to NEM 2.0 here.