General FAQs

• What’s going on with the cost of electricity?

  PG&E’s electricity costs have been going up steadily for the past 30 years and are expected to increase at a rate of ~10% per year over the next 10 years. PG&E currently has over $30 Billion in pending rate increase requests at the CPUC. Increases have been the most significant for residents who live in multi-tenant units and have medium usage. Rates increases planned and approved by the Utility and CPUC favor the single-family homeowner and commercial customers who have the wherewithal and legal authority to install solar for their own use to actually lower single family home rates and/or shift the cost to renters. Your property owner and Powertree are teamed to combat this cost shift and save tenants money through onsite renewable clean energy.

  Time of Use Rates are now required and are changing: Current CPUC regulations require that ALL new accounts (new setup or changes of rate schedule or billing person/entity) be on Time of Use and that all customers will be shifted to Time of Use over time. During the day, there is a tremendous amount of renewable energy delivered to the California grid. Renewables are providing enough electricity to the grid that traditional energy generation during the peak sun hours of the day is shut down. The highest energy demand during a day is now in the evening hours.

  Prior to this heavy renewable production, usage and the cost of electricity was the highest from noon until 6:00 pm, the former “Peak Period”. Moving forward, “Peak Period” is going to be from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm when solar power is not producing at a significant rate. People use most of their power from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm and this forces fossil fueled “Peaker Plants” to fire up to meet that evening demand. Energy produced by these “Peaker Plants” is very expensive and highly polluting. Thus, the Time of Use changes will have a big impact on the energy bills for residents and be 2X to 3X the minimum daily rates.

• Is this available in other apartments in Napa?

  At this moment, your landlord is providing you with a unique opportunity to save money on your electricity and on gasoline if you choose to purchase an electric vehicle. These are amenities that are currently only available at Glen View Apartments.

• How much will it cost me?

  Your exact cost will depend on the amount of panels required for your use and your history of usage. You will be quoted an exact price when you signup along with any other options your site has available. Pricing is calculated to save you at least 10% annually versus buying the same amount of energy from other sources at the same time of day.

• Will this increase my rent?

  No, this is an opt in service to deliver savings for tenants on their energy costs and is totally separate from your base rent. Tenants save money overall as the net annual saving on your electricity bill will exceed the cost of the solar panel rental.

• Are the batteries you are installing safe?

  Yes. The batteries are tested for safety and comply with UL and local Fire standards. All batteries will be installed in locked fire rated cabinets to prevent unauthorized access.

• What’s in it for Powertree?

  Powertree is compensated for installing the solar system and electric vehicle chargers, maintaining and managing those systems, and for handling user billing.

Solar FAQs

• I’ve seen news about new rates and solar fees. Will I have to pay those?

  The California Public Utility Commission recently issued a Proposed Decision known as NEM3.0 to alter the way in which Solar energy is credited when sent to the local Utility. This rate change applies only to a form of Solar known as Net Metering where the solar energy is sold to the utility if not immediately consumed and then bought back later as needed. The new NEM3.0 rules allow the Utility to charge a monthly fee per KW to residents just for having panels on their roof. While these rules, at the time of this writing are not yet finalized the Powertree system does NOT use any Net Metering, does not send any electricity back to the Utility and does not take any energy from the Utility so residents will not be subject to the new NEM3.0 fees.

• How does the Powertree technology work to determine how many panels I need and how much power I will use?

  As you sign up for the service and grant permission, Powertree analyzes usage in your Utility account records. Powertree’s algorithm determines how many panels you need to rent and how much money that will save you on your electricity. Powertree then verifies during the first few days that the usage is consistent with your historical data. Powertree utilizes its patented “Energy Allocator” technology to monitor your usage and deliver electricity to your unit when it senses your demand. This all occurs without back feeding energy to the grid and it all saves you money on your electricity costs.

EV FAQs

• How does the Electric Vehicle charging work?

  You will have a link to the Powertree (Electrictrees.com) website and you share your vehicle type with them and they will give you a monthly rate to have unlimited charging for your vehicle.

• What is the average cost to charge a vehicle?

  That is determined by the make and model of your car. The rate is determined by the size of your battery, the location, the rate of charge and other factors.

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