NEM on Your PG&E Bill: What It Means and How to Read the Charges

NEM on a PG&E bill stands for Net Energy Metering, the program that bills a home with solar on the difference between what it takes from the grid and what it sends back. PG&E installs a net meter to measure that difference. Each billing period, the net result shows as a charge or a credit, called your NEM charges, and on older NEM accounts those charges add up over 12 months and settle at the annual True-Up.

This page is one part of our guide to California solar billing.

The rest of this page decodes the PG&E statements line by line: which NEM program you are on, why you receive two documents, what the year-to-date figure means, and which charges solar can’t touch. If your concern is a charge that looks too high, go straight to the causes of high NEM charges.

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Which PG&E solar program are you on?

PG&E bills solar under three programs, and the one on your account decides how to read the bill. The CPUC says NEM 1.0 took new customers until its 2016–2017 sunset dates, NEM 2.0 took applications until April 14, 2023, and applications from April 15, 2023 go on the net billing tariff, which PG&E calls the Solar Billing Plan.

PG&E says Solar Billing Plan residential customers are enrolled automatically once their system gets Permission to Operate, and are placed on the Electric Home rate plan.

The two monthly documents

PG&E says NEM customers currently receive two separate monthly bills. The Energy Statement shows what you pay that month. The Detail of Bill shows cumulative charges that are paid in your True-Up month. People often read the second one as money due now, and it isn’t.

On a NEM2 account, PG&E says you pay each month only the service charge and any gas or non-energy charges. The energy side is tracked, not collected: your meter is read monthly, the net usage for the period appears as a credit or a charge on your NEM Electric Statement, and those credits and charges carry forward month to month for 12 billing cycles.

What the NEM charges line means

PG&E’s sample March 2026 NEM2 statement includes a chart of how much net energy you generated or consumed each month and the associated charge or credit. It defines year-to-date NEM charges as the total NEM charges since the start of your annual True-Up period, and notes the monthly figure is shown for information and reconciled at True-Up. PG&E’s bill explainer video says the same: your year-to-date NEM charges will be paid at your annual True-Up.

Read the line as a running tab. A negative number means your credits are ahead. A positive number that grows every month means your solar is covering less than your usage, and the balance will be due at True-Up. Compare it with the same month last year before assuming something went wrong.

The Base Services Charge: the part solar can’t offset

Starting in March 2026, PG&E replaced the monthly Minimum Electric Charge on NEM accounts with the Base Services Charge. PG&E says it covers approved infrastructure and maintenance costs for connecting to the grid, energy programs, call center services and billing; it is about $24 a month for most customers, about $10 more than the old minimum; it is partly offset by lower per-kWh prices; and CARE, FERA and certified affordable-housing customers see a reduced charge.

PG&E also says it is not eligible to be offset by monthly generation credits, and its sample statement says it can’t be offset at True-Up either. So even a solar home that covers its whole year will see this charge every month. For the statewide background, see California’s new fixed charge explained.

The True-Up statement

At the end of the 12th month, PG&E’s True-Up statement reconciles all your energy charges and credits and any net surplus compensation. A balance due appears on the last bill of that 12-month cycle. If your system produced more than your home used over the year, PG&E pays for the surplus at a CPUC-set rate of about $0.02 to $0.04 per kWh, automatically. By law, PG&E says, any remaining credits reset to zero before the next cycle begins.

The full mechanics, including how SCE and SDG&E handle the same settlement, are in what a NEM true-up is.

If a community choice aggregator supplies your power

Many PG&E customers get generation from a CCA while PG&E handles delivery and billing. On a solar account that splits the math: PG&E’s explainer says net surplus compensation credits may vary if you receive energy from a CCA, and its export price sheets say PG&E’s generation credits apply only to customers with bundled PG&E service. Look for the CCA’s section on the statement and its own solar billing page.

On the Solar Billing Plan, the bill reads differently

If you are on the Solar Billing Plan, you pay energy charges monthly. PG&E says the monthly statement shows credits earned for solar sent to the grid and charges for energy PG&E supplied, with export credits that vary by time of day, day of the week and season. Credits are not applied to non-bypassable charges and demand charges. Leftover credits roll into the annual True-Up. For what those credits are worth hour by hour, see PG&E’s NEM 3.0 export values. For the rate you must take, battery rules and how the True-Up works on this plan, see how PG&E’s Solar Billing Plan works.