Residential SolarShares® price, terms and conditions

SolarShares program participants receive solar energy supplied by SMUD solar generation resources. Shares of the solar energy generated are allocated by SMUD to participating customer accounts through their electricity bill. 

The SolarShares allocation includes the renewable and environmental attributes associated with the solar generation. Participants may make all environmental and renewable claims relating to the SolarShares allocation. SMUD registers and retires cumulative Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) from the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System accounting system on behalf of participants. The cumulative RECs associated with participation are used to substantiate the environmental and renewable claims for participants. Participants receive a Power Content Label (PCL) annually describing the nature and location of their solar generation.

Eligibility

To be eligible to participate in the SolarShares program, customers must be a residential SMUD customer with a residential account. Solar and Storage Rate (SSR) customers and current Neighborhood SolarShares (NSS) customers are not eligible to participate. In addition, customers participating in Greenergy® Partner Plus, Standard, Neighborhood Recipient, CA Renewable or Local Renewable are not eligible to participate.

Pricing and terms

Upon enrollment in this program, SMUD will add the associated charges or credits to a customer’s SMUD electricity bill each month for 20 years, or until customer discontinues program participation. If customer discontinues participation, and at a future time requests to participate again, the customer’s term resets at year one and begins a new 20-year term.

The charts below demonstrate the monthly charges and credits by kW of SolarShares per year:

*per kW

See the example below for a customer choosing to participate in the SolarShares program at the 2kW level.

• The charges per month would be 2kW times $2.00 each month for the first year. That would mean the customer’s electricity bill would include a $4 per month charge each month of the first year.
• After the first year of participation, the customer’s per kW charge would drop to $1.75 per kW. That would mean the customer would see a $3.50 monthly charge in the second year.
• The customer’s program costs would decrease each year of participation and in year 6, there would be no charge for the 2kW SolarShares participation.
• In year 10, the customer would see a credit of $1.75 per kW each month. That would mean a $3.50 monthly credit in the 10^th year.

Discontinued participation

A customer may discontinue participation in SMUD’s SolarShares program at any time by calling 1-888-742-7683 or sending a letter to SMUD SolarShares Program, P.O. Box 15830 MS A203, Sacramento, CA 95852. There is no penalty for discontinuing participation and participation may be requested again at a future date. Upon receipt of request, SMUD, at its discretion, may re-enroll an eligible customer (beginning at year one) if the program is open to new enrollments at the time of request.

Break in electric service

In the event of a break (or lapse) in SMUD electric service, the customer has the right to request that its’ participation resume (without changing the 20-year participation dates) for a period of 90 days following the break (or lapse) in electric service. The participant must request that participation resume during the electric service start. SMUD may, at its’ discretion, resume customer’s participation if the program is accepting new enrollments, and overall solar capacity is still available.

Change in SolarShares size (kW)

The SolarShares program is designed to supply about 100% of a customer’s estimated annual usage. The initial SolarShares size is intended to approximately meet a customer’s annual usage rounded to the nearest 1 kW.  If at any time a participant wants a more detailed, or revised usage history analysis that may be used to adjust the SolarShares size, they may request a new analysis and adjust the SolarShares participation based on their estimated usage.

If customer usage changes significantly, a participant may request more or less kW; and SMUD may, at its’ discretion, approve the request without affecting the term of participation. To request a change in SolarShares size in kW, a customer can call 1-888-742-7683 or email ResSolarShares@smud.org.