PG&E rewrote the solar economics for Central Valley homeowners in April 2023. Here is exactly what changed and how NMS designs around it.
NEM 3.0 - officially the Net Billing Tariff (NBT) - is the third generation of California's net energy metering rules. It went into effect for PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E on April 14, 2023, and it applies to every new solar interconnection submitted to PG&E after that date. If you installed solar in Fresno before that date and your application was approved, you are grandfathered into NEM 2.0 for 20 years from your interconnection date.
For new Fresno solar customers, NEM 3.0 dramatically changed two things: how PG&E credits you for solar you export to the grid, and how the math works for solar without a battery.
Under NEM 2.0, every kilowatt-hour your panels sent back to the grid was credited at the same retail rate you paid PG&E - typically $0.30 to $0.50 per kWh in Fresno depending on time of day and rate plan. Under NEM 3.0, exports are credited at PG&E's Avoided Cost Calculator (ACC) rate, which in Fresno averages closer to $0.05 to $0.08 per kWh during most hours. Mid-afternoon exports - when most home solar systems produce the most - are now worth a fraction of what they were.
The ACC export rate is not flat. It rises during the late-afternoon "peak" window - typically 4 to 9 PM in PG&E Fresno territory - when grid demand is highest. That is also when Fresno homes are running the most: AC at full blast, ovens on, kids home from school. The new economic question becomes: can you self-consume your own solar during that window instead of exporting it at $0.05?
The answer in practice: only with a battery.
For a Fresno home installing solar-only under NEM 3.0, payback typically stretches from the old 6 to 9 years (under NEM 2.0) to 8 to 12 years. The system still pays for itself - Central Valley sun is too abundant for solar not to make sense - but the math is tighter and more dependent on system design.
Adding a battery shifts the math back. A simplified example for a typical Fresno PG&E home using ~12,000 kWh/year:
Those are rough averages. Your numbers depend on your actual usage shape, your rate plan, and your roof. We will model yours specifically when you schedule a free design call.
NMS approaches every new Fresno design assuming NEM 3.0 rules - there is no shortcut around it. That means:
For most Fresno PG&E homeowners, the answer is still yes - but the design matters more than ever. The homes that come out ahead under NEM 3.0 are the ones designed for self-consumption from day one. The homes that struggle are the ones with cookie-cutter array sizes pushed by national installers who have not updated their playbook.
NMS has been doing solar in the Central Valley since 2005. We have redesigned our entire process around NEM 3.0 economics for new Fresno customers. Schedule a free design call and we will model your actual house, your actual usage, and your actual savings - under the rules that exist today.
NEM 3.0 - formally PG&E's Net Billing Tariff (NBT) - is California's third-generation net energy metering rule, effective April 14, 2023 for new solar interconnection applications. It replaced NEM 2.0 and significantly changed how PG&E pays you for solar energy you export to the grid.
Under NEM 2.0, your exported solar energy was credited at the same retail rate you paid for electricity (roughly $0.30 to $0.50 per kWh in PG&E Fresno territory). Under NEM 3.0, exports are paid at the Avoided Cost Calculator rate - typically $0.05 to $0.08 per kWh during most hours. That is roughly a 75 percent cut to export value, which fundamentally changes the math on solar payback for Fresno homeowners.
NEM 3.0 stretches the payback period from the old 6 to 9 years (NEM 2.0) to roughly 8 to 12 years if you stay solar-only. Pairing solar with a battery (typically Tesla Powerwall, Enphase IQ Battery, or FranklinWH) restores most of the value because you self-consume your daytime solar instead of exporting at low rates, then discharge the battery during PG&E's expensive 4 to 9 PM peak. Most Fresno homes designed for NEM 3.0 today include a battery.
For most Fresno homeowners, yes. The Avoided Cost Calculator rates are highest from 4 to 9 PM summer, which is exactly when your AC is hammering the meter. A properly sized battery shifts your solar self-consumption to that window, multiplying your savings. NMS designs nearly every new Fresno solar system with at least one Powerwall to make NEM 3.0 economics work.
Yes - NEM 2.0 customers are grandfathered for 20 years from interconnection date. If your Fresno system was interconnected with PG&E before April 14, 2023, you keep retail-rate export credits for 20 years from that date. If you add a battery to an existing NEM 2.0 system, you typically remain on NEM 2.0 as long as the original PV nameplate does not increase by more than 10 percent.
Yes. We pull your last 12 months of PG&E usage from your Share My Data export (or itemize it from your bills), model an NMS-designed solar plus battery system, and show you the actual year-by-year cash flow under NEM 3.0. No back-of-napkin estimates. Schedule a free design call to see your numbers.
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Net Metering Systems
55 E Shaw Ave #201
Clovis, CA 93612
