[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":362},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page-\u002Futilities\u002Fsce":3,"author-mike":312,"ssc-status":349},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bare":7,"body":8,"dateModified":287,"datePublished":287,"description":288,"extension":289,"howToSteps":290,"kits":290,"layout":291,"meta":292,"navigation":293,"path":294,"schemaType":295,"seo":296,"sources":297,"stem":304,"targetKeywords":305,"titleTag":310,"translationOf":290,"__hash__":311},"content\u002Futilities\u002Fsce.md","Plug-in solar on Southern California Edison","mike",false,{"type":9,"value":10},"minimark",[11,18,22,25,30,104,107,111,173,185,189,192,199,205,212,219,223,230,238,245,249,252,255,258,264,268,271,284],[12,13,14],"answer-box",{},[15,16,17],"p",{},"SCE's average residential rate was 34.4 cents a kilowatt-hour as of 1 June 2026, or about 33.2 cents once the California Climate Credit is applied — down slightly from the 35.3 cents set after a roughly 13 percent wildfire-cost increase in October 2025. At that rate, a 1,200-watt plug-in system in Orange County saves roughly $376 a year without a battery. SCE opposed SB 868, and once it's law will be barred from charging you a fee or requiring approval.",[19,20],"stat-grid",{":stats":21},"[{\"value\":\"33.2¢\",\"label\":\"Per kWh, with the Climate Credit\",\"note\":\"34.4¢ before it. As of 1 June 2026.\"},{\"value\":\"$376\",\"label\":\"1,200W, tilted, someone home\",\"note\":\"A year, without a battery.\"},{\"value\":\"4–9pm\",\"label\":\"When it costs most\",\"note\":\"About 58¢ on a summer weekday, against 24¢ off-peak.\"},{\"value\":\"$24.15\",\"label\":\"Fixed, every month\",\"note\":\"The Base Services Charge. Solar doesn't touch it.\"}]",[23,24],"status-strip",{},[26,27,29],"h2",{"id":28},"the-rates-that-matter-to-you","The rates that matter to you",[31,32,33,44],"table",{},[34,35,36],"thead",{},[37,38,39,42],"tr",{},[40,41],"th",{},[40,43],{},[45,46,47,56,64,72,80,88,96],"tbody",{},[37,48,49,53],{},[50,51,52],"td",{},"Average residential rate",[50,54,55],{},"34.4¢\u002FkWh (1 June 2026)",[37,57,58,61],{},[50,59,60],{},"With the California Climate Credit applied",[50,62,63],{},"~33.2¢\u002FkWh",[37,65,66,69],{},[50,67,68],{},"Base Services Charge, non-CARE",[50,70,71],{},"~$24.15\u002Fmonth, income-graduated, since November 2025",[37,73,74,77],{},[50,75,76],{},"TOU-D-4-9PM, summer weekday on-peak",[50,78,79],{},"~58¢\u002FkWh",[37,81,82,85],{},[50,83,84],{},"TOU-D-4-9PM, off-peak",[50,86,87],{},"~24¢\u002FkWh",[37,89,90,93],{},[50,91,92],{},"TOU-D-5-8PM, summer weekday on-peak",[50,94,95],{},"up to ~74¢\u002FkWh",[37,97,98,101],{},[50,99,100],{},"TOU-D-PRIME",[50,102,103],{},"lower energy rates, ~$24\u002Fmonth additional charge",[15,105,106],{},"The Base Services Charge is worth understanding: it's payable regardless of how little electricity you buy, so solar doesn't touch it. Anyone telling you a panel will \"eliminate your bill\" hasn't looked at an SCE bill.",[26,108,110],{"id":109},"what-a-kit-saves-on-sce","What a kit saves on SCE",[31,112,113,123],{},[34,114,115],{},[37,116,117,120],{},[40,118,119],{},"Setup",[40,121,122],{},"Estimated annual saving",[45,124,125,133,141,149,157,165],{},[37,126,127,130],{},[50,128,129],{},"360W, west, vertical on a railing, someone home",[50,131,132],{},"$73",[37,134,135,138],{},[50,136,137],{},"360W, west, tilted, someone home",[50,139,140],{},"$118",[37,142,143,146],{},[50,144,145],{},"800W, west, tilted, someone home",[50,147,148],{},"$262",[37,150,151,154],{},[50,152,153],{},"800W, west, tilted, empty by day",[50,155,156],{},"$157",[37,158,159,162],{},[50,160,161],{},"1,200W, south, tilted, someone home",[50,163,164],{},"$474",[37,166,167,170],{},[50,168,169],{},"1,200W, south, tilted, someone home, with battery",[50,171,172],{},"$564",[15,174,175],{},[176,177,178,179,184],"em",{},"Estimated using NREL irradiance data for Orange County and a 33.2-cent blended rate. ",[180,181,183],"a",{"href":182},"\u002Fmethodology","Full working",".",[26,186,188],{"id":187},"if-youre-on-a-time-of-use-plan","If you're on a time-of-use plan",[15,190,191],{},"Most SCE residential customers now are. It changes what a panel is worth in two directions.",[15,193,194,198],{},[195,196,197],"strong",{},"Against you:"," the panel is finished producing before the 4pm peak really bites, so most of what it makes displaces cheap off-peak power.",[15,200,201,204],{},[195,202,203],{},"For you:"," anything you can shift into daylight is worth much more. Moving a dishwasher cycle from 8pm to 1pm on TOU-D-4-9PM in summer changes the price of that electricity from roughly 58 cents to roughly 24 — and if your panel is covering it, to nothing.",[206,207],"day-band-chart",{"caption":208,"peak-end":209,"peak-label":210,"peak-start":211},"SCE's TOU-D-4-9PM peak begins as production is falling away. A west-facing panel pushes more of its output into that window than a south-facing one.","21","4pm–9pm","16",[15,213,214,215,184],{},"A west-facing panel helps here, because it pushes production later into the afternoon. ",[180,216,218],{"href":217},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftime-of-use-rates","More on this",[26,220,222],{"id":221},"where-sces-territory-is","Where SCE's territory is",[15,224,225,226,229],{},"Most of Orange County, including Irvine, Santa Ana, Tustin, Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach. Note that the ",[195,227,228],{},"city of Anaheim is served by Anaheim Public Utilities",", not SCE — a municipal utility, also covered by SB 868. Beyond Orange County, SCE serves most of Los Angeles County outside the city of Los Angeles, plus large parts of the Inland Empire, Ventura and the central coast.",[15,231,232,233,237],{},"South Orange County — San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, and parts of Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel and Laguna Hills — is ",[180,234,236],{"href":235},"\u002Futilities\u002Fsdge","SDG&E",". The boundary runs roughly along La Paz Road, Laguna Hills Drive and Crown Valley Parkway.",[15,239,240,241,244],{},"If your bill shows ",[195,242,243],{},"Orange County Power Authority",", that's a Community Choice Aggregator buying your electricity while SCE still delivers it. It changes the generation charge on your bill, not how any of this works.",[26,246,248],{"id":247},"sces-position-on-plug-in-solar","SCE's position on plug-in solar",[15,250,251],{},"SCE, and its parent Edison International, opposed SB 868. Their stated concerns were about safety, metering and the absence of inspection.",[15,253,254],{},"Once the bill is in force, SCE will be prohibited from charging any fee on the device or on the electricity it produces, and from requiring approval or permission to operate. It may require a simple online registration — address, make, model, size. That's a notification, not an application; you don't wait for a response.",[15,256,257],{},"SCE had not published a registration process or a customer-facing position as of 1 September 2026. We'll update this section the moment it does.",[15,259,260,263],{},[195,261,262],{},"Before the law takes effect",", SCE can technically still assert interconnection requirements for a device that backfeeds. If you want to install before January 2027, either use a zero-export device or ring SCE and get their current position in writing.",[26,265,267],{"id":266},"worth-doing-first-free","Worth doing first, free",[15,269,270],{},"Check whether you're on the right rate plan. SCE publishes a rate comparison tool that uses your actual usage history. For some households, switching plans is worth more than a small solar panel, and it costs nothing.",[15,272,273,277,278,277,280],{},[180,274,276],{"href":275},"\u002Fwizard","Work out your savings →"," · ",[180,279,236],{"href":235},[180,281,283],{"href":282},"\u002Futilities\u002Fpge","PG&E",[285,286],"sources-block",{},"2026-09-01","SCE's average residential rate is 34.4¢\u002FkWh. What a plug-in panel saves on SCE, how TOU-D-4-9PM changes it, and what registration will involve.","md",null,"data",{},true,"\u002Futilities\u002Fsce","Article",{"title":5,"description":288},[298,301],{"title":299,"url":300,"accessed":287},"SCE Rate Advisory, June 2026","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sce.com\u002Fsave-money\u002Frates-financing\u002Fsce-rate-advisory",{"title":302,"url":303,"accessed":287},"SCE residential rate plans","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sce.com\u002Fresidential\u002Frates","utilities\u002Fsce",[306,307,308,309],"plug in solar SCE","SCE balcony solar","SCE solar savings","SCE TOU rates 2026","Balcony Solar with SCE | Rates, Peak Hours, Savings","Pjx2Sp9_QzKpDk_LYMn36IyJyq-Fa4tU5zEVpzVLwYA",{"id":313,"title":314,"body":315,"description":340,"email":339,"extension":289,"location":341,"meta":342,"name":321,"navigation":293,"path":343,"photo":344,"role":345,"sameAs":290,"seo":346,"stem":347,"__hash__":348},"authors\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike.md","Mike",{"type":9,"value":316},[317,323,326,330,333],[15,318,319,322],{},[195,320,321],{},"Mike Yu"," started SmallSolarCo after working out that a plug-in panel was the only kind of solar available to him — he rents in Irvine with a west-facing balcony and no roof of his own. He is not an electrician, a solar installer, or a lawyer, and the site says so wherever it matters. He has a background building web products, and built the savings model here himself, using NREL irradiance data and Southern California Edison's published rates.",[15,324,325],{},"Since September 2026 he has been running a plug-in kit on that balcony and logging what it actually produces. Every measured figure on this site comes from that kit. Everything else is labelled as an estimate.",[26,327,329],{"id":328},"editorial-independence","Editorial independence",[15,331,332],{},"We don't accept review units on terms that involve anyone approving the review first. If a manufacturer sends us a kit, we say so on the review, and we keep the right to publish a bad one.",[15,334,335,336,184],{},"Reach him at ",[180,337,339],{"href":338},"mailto:hello@smallsolarco.com","hello@smallsolarco.com","Mike Yu started SmallSolarCo after working out that a plug-in panel was the only kind of solar available to him — he rents in Irvine with a west-facing balcony and no roof of his own. He is not an electrician, a solar installer, or a lawyer, and the site says so wherever it matters. He has a background building web products, and built the savings model here himself, using NREL irradiance data and Southern California Edison's published rates.","Irvine, California",{},"\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike","\u002Fimages\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike.jpg","Founder",{"description":340},"authors\u002Fmike","kb0uodhMlGk_YV3nMOIXdr6bpZgtB5zNoRxdGxsXMQ8",{"id":350,"asOf":287,"deadline":351,"effectiveIfSigned":352,"extension":353,"linkHref":354,"linkText":355,"long":356,"meta":357,"short":358,"stage":359,"stem":360,"__hash__":361},"status\u002Fstatus.yml","2026-09-30","2027-01-01","yml","\u002Fis-it-legal","Follow the bill","As of 1 September 2026, SB 868 has passed both houses of the California Legislature and was enrolled on 28 August 2026. Governor Newsom has until 30 September 2026 to sign or veto it. If he signs, it takes effect 1 January 2027.",{},"Not yet law. Passed the Legislature, waiting on the Governor.","awaiting-governor","status","y1EcgNvLaSQD00RchAw3MGw06s9kMOhBN4NDIrjgUSs",1788387859261]