Understanding Your Bill

1. Normal utility bill charges
   These costs are based on your electricity consumption, taxes, fees, and adjustments—not solar energy production! After signing up for community solar, you will continue to be billed for the amount of electricity you consume every month per its normal schedule.
2. Bill Credits
   As a subscriber, you will earn bill credits on your electricity bill for your portion of energy generated by the solar project in the previous month. Since these rates are per kilowatt-hour (kWh), subscribers should expect to see some variance in their total bill credits month to month depending on how much electricity was generated in that month. Bill credits are applied according to a per-kWh rate ($/kWh) determined by your utility company. Rates can be found in the table below.

   Tier 1 Bill Credit Rates by Utility ($/kWh)

   Portland General Electric	Pacific Power	Idaho Power	Effective Date
   $0.11234	$0.0977	$0.0848	1/1/2020

   
   

   These rates are fixed for projects participating in Tier 1.

   Tier 2 Bill Credit Rates by Utility ($/kWh)

   Utility	Portland General Electric	Pacific Power	Effective Date
   Residential	$0.11234	$0.0977	1/25/2022
   Non-residential	$0.101106	$0.08793	1/25/2022

   
   

   Tier 2 bill credit rates will escalate 2% each year beginning in April 2023 for both residential and non-residential customers. This is only applicable to Portland General Electric and Pacific Power customers.

   You can find out if your project is Tier 1 or Tier 2 by asking your project or subscription manager.

3. Project Subscription Fees
   Subscription fees vary by solar project and are set by project managers. Ask the project or subscription manager. You can also find a project’s subscription fee on the description page for each project listed on the Project Finder. Like bill credits, subscription fee totals will vary somewhat each month, since they are calculated per kWh. Discounted subscription fees are available for low-income subscribers. Some projects may offer an ownership option for upfront investment instead of a monthly subscription.
4. Program Administration Fees
   

   Program administration fees recover the costs of operating the program. You will see individual line items on your utility bill: one for the fee that recovers the costs of the program administrator and one for the fee that recovers the costs of the electric utility. Program administration fees are additional to the subscription fee that is paid to the manager of the solar project you choose. Low-income customers are exempt from paying all program administration fees and will not see program administration fees on their bill.

   Current program administration fees are provided in the table below. While the bill credit and subscription fee are based on variable solar generation, the program administration fees are fixed monthly amounts based on the size of your subscription and calculated on a $/kW-AC basis. Program fees are set and reviewed annually by the Oregon Public Utility Commission, and may be updated to reflect program administration costs.

   Fee Component	Portland General Electric	Pacific Power	Idaho Power
   Program Administrator Fee	$0.85	$0.85	$0.85
   Utility Fee	$0.11	$0.20	$0.48
   Total Program Fee	$0.96	$1.05	$1.33

5. Total Utility Bill
   Your total electricity bill is calculated by subtracting your solar discounts from your electricity costs and fees.

Total Savings

A customer’s overall savings will depend on the subscription fees charged by their project manager and their subscription size. To learn more about how this works, please refer to the Oregon Community Program Bill Impact Calculator or ask your project or subscription manager for an estimate.