Solar Net Energy Metering Explained (NEM)

Solar 101 Learning Series with Intern Liz

Hello! For the next few weeks I will be going over some of the solar topics that I’ve learned as an intern.

This week, I will go over Net Energy Metering (NEM), what it is, how it affects you, and what’s the current situation on it. 

First, I will explain my take on it, then I’ll go over what I found while doing research.

My Understanding

NEM is a way to pay back solar owners for the energy that they do not use. Here’s how this works:

• Solar is connected to the local energy grid.
• The energy that the solar on a house produces goes into the grid.
• The solar energy produced will either cover what the house uses and they’ll have a surplus, or they’ll use more than they produced and have to use energy from the utility company.
• If they produce a surplus, the utility company can sell what they gain.
• They then will pay the solar owner for their energy that was provided, because of NEM. 

The Research

For this information, I used multiple sources; 3 articles and 4 videos. The newest version of the NEM program is called, “NEM 2.0”. 

• PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E customers are eligible. 
  • After 5% of the utility customers have gone solar, the utility company switched from NEM 1.0 to NEM 2.0
  • California Municipal Utilities like SMUD follow their own NEM rules. 
• It covers all forms of clean energy, along with fuel cells. (see more details in the CPUC’s article) 
• This allows the producers of the energy to get paid (at retail rate in bill credits) for their surplus produced, if the system is under 1 MW.
  • These retail rates go off of the “peak” and “off-peak” system. 
  • You’re charged on a yearly basis, rather than a monthly bases.
• There are some set charges involved; a non-bypassable charge that’s fixed for each kWh, and a one-time inter-connection fee.
• The surplus is added up and tacked onto your bill as a credit, rather than a charge. 
  • You use these credits when you are taking energy from the utility company.
• If you start NEM 2.0 now, you won’t lose your benefits for 20 years because of grandfathering. 
  • The next NEM bill (NEM 3.0) will most likely decrease the benefits for homeowners.
• There are 4 other programs that get more specialized for certain situations. 

            How NEM Works

• • • Your solar energy goes back to the utility company
    • They sell it at retail rates
    • What they sell gets put on your bill as a credit
    • After one year the difference is calculated, you either pay for what you ended up taking or not paying.

Heard of AB 1139? It tried to take away NEM! Utility companies were trying to gain EVEN MORE profit by not paying back the owners putting energy into the grid. Fortunately, it was not successful. 

Harry from SEG showing our support at the Capitol!

Overall, I feel that I had a pretty good understanding of NEM based off of what Harry from SEG taught me; NEM pays you back for your clean energy that you provide for other homes to use.

What I Learned

•  It’s not just solar that qualifies, which is awesome!
• There are other charges involved
• There’s other specialized programs within this one.
• The solar owner gets paid through the energy bill, not other forms such as checks.

I hope that I got to teach you guys something new! If you have further comments feel free to let us know on our Facebook page, this article will be posted on there :)

I’d love to hear if there’s any information I missed, or what you guys think about AB 1139. 

 🐝 Save the Bees! 🐝

No bees. No food.

The honeybee holds ecological, economic and social importance. Bees contribute largely to the vital ecosystem service of pollination to our planet. Pollinators, like the honeybee, assist with keeping our agriculture alive and our ecosystem intact. Bee pollination promotes sustainable development by providing food security, biodiversity and many other benefits. 

Many of our crops would not exist if not pollinated by these precious and vital creatures. It is important for people to know where their food comes from, and be educated on the beneficiary qualities of bees and their products. Bees help to create sustainable food, self-reliance and food security within communities, and beekeepers play a large role in facilitating the process. 

However, the extensive decline in honeybees is dangerous at its present rate and if we do not make efforts now for change, it will be detrimental to our lives as we know it.

What’s currently happening with the bees?

We know that millions of bees are dying off at an alarming rate. The cause is Colony Collapse Disorder also known as CCD. CCD is the phenomenon of most worker bees disappearing from their hive and leaving their queen behind. Much research has been done about the cause of CCD. The most widely agreed upon reason is neonicotinoids. Or ‘neonics’ for short, are a family of pesticides which are in use in agriculture. 

Neonics bring down bees’ immunity and attack their nervous system, this causes the bees to be more defenseless against infections brought in by other insects to their hives. With their nervous system affected, we are seeing a large number fly away from the hive and not return because the sense of direction is essentially gone for them.

What’s Next?

If they die, they are taking us with them…

Government: 

The EPA has introduced a bill to ban these Bee-killing pesticides. This is a good start, but there is still a lot of work to do. 

You:

There are several ways you can help!

• Join the BAN-wagon: https://environmentamerica.webaction.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/index.sjs?action_KEY=19719&_ga=2.149082805.281111394.1522847163-93293442.1522847163
• Tell Amazon to Save the Bees: https://environmentamerica.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=43926&_ga=2.63330351.141849639.1620663092-1180232111.1617397089 
• Plant your own bee-friendly garden and avoid the use of pesticides!

• Support & Buy Local
  • Honey, fruits, vegetables, and Nuts!
    • Honey: www.sacramentobeekeeper.com 
    • Farmers Markets: https://www.farmtofork.com/taste-and-tour/farmers-markets/
  • Eat at Farm to Table Restaurants:
    • https://m.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Farm+To+Table&find_loc=Sacramento%2C+CA

More ways to help:

Beekeeping is a great way to help save the bees! 

What is beekeeping?

Keeping bees is a form of maintaining livestock.  This includes monitoring the hive for diseases and parasites.  Additionally, this entails protecting the bees from pests and the elements of nature.

During hive inspections, we need to assess the health of the queen and the overall health of the hive by ensuring that they have an adequate food supply.  If they do not, we can supplement them with pollen substitutes and syrup with beneficial enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and probiotics.

We use organic compounds such as Oxalic Acid and Formic Acid to combat parasites such as Varroa mites.  We maintain the woodware and keep boxes in good shape to keep out the wind and rain.  The more work we can do for the bees, the more they can do for us by giving them less of a workload in housekeeping and more time focused on foraging and caring for developing young bees.

How is beekeeping sustainable?

Beekeeping itself is sustainable due to the fact that honeybees are the only altruistic animal by nature.  They don’t need to consume or kill anything to survive.  In fact they do the opposite, in the process of foraging for nectar and pollen the honeybees pollinate millions upon millions of flowers creating the next generation of plants that help feed us and clean our air.  

Beekeeping is also sustainable by the sheer amount of swarms that are cast each year by healthy established hives.  As beekeepers we are able to relocate swarms from locations where they might not survive to an apiary where we can monitor and care for them.  This allows us to maintain more hives going into winter which we can use to replace any hives lost during winter.

Sustainable beekeepers are attentive and active in maintaining hive health while mirroring their natural cycle of life. Bees make optimal use of their resources in their local area and environment.  Makes sense that we reciprocate that in caring for them.

Using locally adapted bees will have a much better performance than imported bees, as the local bees are acclimated to the local weather and pest/disease pressure.  

Why is beekeeping important?

Honey bees account for a massive amount of food that humans and other animals consume; fruit, flowers, nuts, and vegetables.

Commercial beekeepers transport hives all over the country to pollinate farms, orchards, and greenhouses to produce food that we rely on.   If the honey bees die, we will not have access to enough healthy food and would be reliant on grains, roots, and wind pollinated plants. 

We would be stuck eating corn, wheat, and rice based diets.

Biodiversity among plants is important for their survival to overcome an ever changing landscape, and without honeybees a large portion of the plants would begin to decline leading to loss of food and habitat for animals, as well as erosion control for hillsides and naturally graded areas.  

Bees and plants are codependent on each other.  They need flowers for food, and the plants need the bees to be able to pass on genes to create the next generation. 

Why should you Beekeep?

Beekeeping is rewarding and sustainable.  It also allows you to make a big impact on the world around you.  The honey can be used in culinary applications to replace synthetic sweeteners.  The honey can also be used in cosmetics and salves.

It is a very therapeutic practice watching, listening, and smelling the bees to understand what they are doing at any particular time.  

If you have a vegetable garden you will see an increase in pollination, which means more food to go on your table. 

Growing your own food is like printing your own money. 

Every flower on the squash plant is one squash you won’t need to purchase at the grocery store or farmers market.  Honey is also a commodity which can be sold, traded, or stored to make bread, put in tea/coffee, or cheese plates.  Honey is non-perishable and will never go bad if stored airtight.  

In closing, beekeeping is very rewarding and it is a highly sustainable practice if  we learn to march to the bees cadence. The thing about sustainability is, you have to sustain it.  This means the bees rely on you as much as you do on them. Like any relationship, the best part is when both parties are happy.  

About the contributors:

Bee Marie

BEE is an environmental artist. Making music to save the bees and create a platform to speak about environmental issues, solutions and sustainability. She has a degree in Environmental Studies & Sustainability and an apprenticeship with Blake Dacy in beekeeping. 

Listen Here: www.youtube.com/thebeemusic1?sub_confirmation=1 

 

Blake Dacy

Blake Dacy is the founder and lead beekeeper of Sacramento Beekeeper. He is a Sacramento native who loves educating the community about honey bees and their role in our crops and health. He has extensive knowledge and expertise in beekeeping and agricultural practices.  Proudly serving the greater Sacramento Area, Sierra Foothills, and surrounding areas for beehive removals, swarm rescues, honey sales, and beekeeping education. 

Please visit www.sacramentobeekeeper.com 

 

*Local learning series written by Justin Ancheta, owner of Soul Graffiti Productions

How is our local Bike Culture? Rated & Reviewed

-Justin Ancheta & Family, biking to Briar Patch, April 2021. 

 

Here at Soul Graffiti, we have been a part of many world wide Bicycle & Music trips focusing on the Bicycle Revolution. With trips over the Pyrenees Mountains – France to Spain, to doing a cross country Bike and Train tour from California to New York, we gather our resources and experience to drop into how Grass Valley and Nevada City rate for bike culture. Specifically, we are focusing on electric bikes (Ebikes) and how we may create a more safe and prosperous bike culture in our neck of the woods.  

After both experiencing first hand, and hearing from others about how it is for them riding Ebikes in our community, we have summarized a few highlights and ratings that can help bridge the gap for the transition families and communities can make to bike more locally and creating a smaller carbon footprint.

Here is the criteria using in our ratings: 

• Safety 
• Routes 
• Ease, Legality and Etiquette 

Each category will be ranked from a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best. We’d be happy to hear your thoughts and experiences with these as well, so please comment and let us know how it is for you.

Ideally, with more momentum from the adoption of Ebikes in the area, it will help motivate safer bike routes and infrastructure to be built while also helping to increase our knowledge around safety, legalities and etiquette for both vehicles and bikers. The idea of “how we share the road” will take everyone’s collaboration.

Ebike Safety in Grass Valley/Nevada City – Rating: 6.5 

You can’t go wrong with safety where there aren’t cars and you have a two laned bike throughways. The Litton Trail offers a glimpse of this safety and infrastructure maturity, yet it doesn’t last very long. Most EBikers need to share the side of the road or take a lane in some circumstances to get from point A to point B. Although this does create for some risky situations, the EBike allows for more safety because you have the ability to match speeds of traffic and take lanes with more ease. Overall, I’d rate the area for Ebikes around a 6.5.  A regular bike rates closer to 3.5. 

*Sign and trail picture from www.bylt.org/trail/litton-trail

Regular biking in the area is rated less in safety due to the inability to match speeds up hills when in a traffic area, plus the many mountain bike trails that so many folks enjoy can also be a bit treacherous. Definitely wear your helmets! As stated, Ebikes are a bit higher in rating locally due to the ability to match speeds better and take lanes. However, a good way for EBikes to increase in safety locally is to have increased bike awareness through marked lanes to “share the road” with bikes, and also more knowledge of how to signal in traffic.

Drivers locally are notorious for getting angry at bikers and showing this attitude when bikers take a lane, and then passing on blind turns or sometimes pushing bikers off the road. A way to keep safe is to fully take a lane if you feel the edge isn’t large enough to bike safely with cars flying by. Ideally, all you bike advocates and environmentalist can set the stage for compassionate communication and empathy for those drivers that don’t know about the ease, fun, and excitement of getting around by bike.

The largest steps toward safety is educating the community, making yourself visible (lights and bright colors), knowing your hand signals and use them, and taking the lane when necessary. Definitely watch out for ice in the winter and stay clear of snow patches. The spring, summer, and fall season is pretty ideal and more safe than winters for sure, but winter is not ruled out as a mode of operation if you keep to safer routes. 

Ebike Routes in Grass Valley/Nevada City – Rating: 3.5 

With countless off-road mountain biking in the area, there are plenty of enjoyable nature trails to get your Ebike onto with safety, ease, and joy! As stated before, the idea of more connecting trails like the Litton Two Way Bike Lane, is a great example of where we can go when we choose to add more routes. Updating even further with road signs with Ebike and Bike sharing markers. After being carless for almost a decade in the Bay Area Ebiking around, I can’t say enough about how important it was to organize and support local Bike Coalitions and Advocates that support this infrastructure.

After lots of research online and talking to locals, I find that the mountain biking community is highly visible and organized, allowing for easy access to many free amazing resources and trails throughout the county and surrounding areas. That said, road biking and EBiking is pretty M.I.A. (Missing-In-Action) both online and from what I see in the connected area. There are many Ebike shops popping up locally and I do see a rise in ridership coming soon, but in regards to advocacy and leadership, you have to look at the larger organizations such as CalBike.org that is working to create incentives for Ebike purchases in California, plus adding infrastructure improvements. The only things I see visible in our local area are for mountain bike support such as www.bonc.org (Bicycles of Nevada City). This rating is low at 3.5 due to the comparison to mountain bikes locally, plus how many connection points and road awareness could be put up to support riders feeling safe and cared for. The more people feel Ebiking is safe, the more riders and support there will be!

Lastly, here is an Ebike group that has doubled in size just in the past week: Nevada County eBike Riders Facebook group. 

 

Ebike: Ease, Legality & Etiquette – Rating: Ease: 8.5, Legality: 6.5; Etiquette: 2.5 

We had to rate each of these categories separately, as they differ in ratings based on our understanding of Ebiking locally.  

Lets start with ease! This is the highest rating yet of 8.5 because Ebikes allow you to power up those steep inclines and charge on the declining hills with your rechargeable braking system (if you have that option). Riders don’t have to be afraid of the hills anymore when you have an Ebike with pedal assist and throttle options.

My favorite is the throttle because you can more easily support how much pedal assist you want, or completely take over at times with the electric motor and cruise as if you are on a motor bike, which you are!

For all you older folk that still want to get out and ride but are afraid the hills are too much in our area, get an Ebike and that will solve it. And for you young folk that want to support a more green and carbon neutral future, plus have a more enjoyable mode of transportation – get an Ebike! As for the heat, cold, snow, rain, and ice – you can solve lots of this by getting the right gear for the season. Rain ponchos and foot and pant-wear that is rainproof, plus gloves, will allow you to ride in rain and not get wet. Maybe even bring a change of clothes in a backpack to assure your dryness upon arrival.  

Legality is a 6.5 rating due to how our culture can be more aware of the improvements in our legal system, and how cops can be more knowledgeable about Ebikes safety and use.

Currently in California, EBikes are supposed to stay under 20 MPH, under a 750 Watt maximum, and can have 2-3 wheels with fully operational pedals.

My experience of Ebikes is that it is easy to get carried away and find yourself going up to 45 MPH and having systems that are 1000+ Watts of power (not to encourage this, but 48V to 72V power systems allow for this). Even with the extra power, I’ve found that it helps me match traffic and allows for more safety in merging situations. You can always stay under 20 MPH by setting your bike to do this and watching your speedometer.  

Etiquette rating is 2.5 due to the capacity for more knowledge and awareness of the biking community at large. I’d be so happy to hear of a local chapter or bike coalition formed to advocate for the safety, knowledge, and ease of Ebikes and road biking in the area. As much as bikers need to have proper hand signals, marked clothing and gear (lights), the driving community needs to share the road with bikes. It’s potentially one of the easiest ways for our society to cut back on our fossil fuel addiction and increase more walkable and bikeable locations in our county. I can’t stress enough to share the road both ways. If someone barks at you, do your best to give bikers a good rap by keeping your cool. There is already too much hate and violence in our world and the more we can be the change we wish to see, the more we will feel it.  

In summary, even though our community isn’t the most bike friendly area in California for a mode of transportation, Ebikes and the awareness of this radical transformation in local transportation could revolutionize the fabric of our culture.

Try it sometime! Go to your local Ebike dealer and rent a an Ebike for a day and take it around town, the Litton Trail, go to downtown Grass Valley and Nevada City and see how it feels to you to power up those hills without any struggle. I have a hybrid SUV and I can’t stress enough how the smaller and lighter the vehicle, the better the battery powered system works. I’m a bit disappointed in the Hybrid modeled SUV’s due to the inability to have good gas mileage in our area due to hills, hot, and cool weather. That said, the hybrid model of an Ebike using your leg power and electric power is phenomenal and can save you hundreds of dollars annually, up to thousands if you use it enough instead of your vehicle.

So let’s get on the same page here… whether you make the transition to an EBike yourself, or you see more of them on the road, remember to smile and be courteous, giving ample room to pass bikers waiting for clear marked road areas for passing and most of all practice “Patience.” If someone is on a bike they are doing something good for the environment, our community, and themselves all at once. Try it out and you will feel amazing! 

 

Justin Ancheta : Owner of Soul Graffiti Productions (Music Lessons, Events, Audio & Video) 

& Director of Walk Oakland Bike Oaklands Open Street Festival – Love Our Neigborhood Day 

Ancheta is a bike touring musician, born in California and raised in the Sierra Foothills of California, has toured Europe and across the United States raising awareness around Bicycles in the past decade of his life.

He now resides in Grass Valley, California and is the owner of Soul Graffiti Productions, SF Garnish Music, and performs regularly regionally with his partner, Maren Metke, mother to their daughter, Juniper. 

www.soulgraffiti.info 

Music at: www.justinanchetaband.com & www.honeyoftheheart.com  

For information, music lessons, bookings and more contact Justin at 510.463.4769