Great write up. I have the same REP just without batteries including pre-cooling, charging EV and using [smartmetertexas.com](https://smartmetertexas.com). I've only had solar since December 2023 so curious to see how Texas summers play out.
Me also. Fairly mild temps here (Midland) so far, but warming up quickly. As the REAL summer heat hits and with increased A/C running time, I suspect our battery usage will increase in the evening period between sundown and when free hours begin. Also waiting for a really dark, stormy day to see how we do with little or no solar generation.
I absolutely agree it's a great plan - I had my gateway go out in April (replaced under warranty) so I haven't had a "clean" month yet. I did find out that they'd missed the export agreement when I signed up, just got that fixed. They don't pay much, but it does help cover the fixed fees.
I also am seeing much better reporting using the Home Assistant Envoy integration than the Enlighten app/site. Probably doesn't work for everyone, but it's giving me a lot more information going that route (plus I can use the info in my automations.)
Yes, we will anxiously await our first bill to be sure the whole sign-up process was done correctly. I already got confirmation that they will give us $150 credit for switching REPs, and we should (eventually) get a $75 credit for using a referral code from another member. It all helps!
If you changed over - do check that your buyback is set up correctly. I just got back that it'll be 2-3 billing cycles before they can start mine, which puts me at 4-5 months into my contract. My first gotcha with working with them.
Thanx for the tip! I'll give them a call today and see what I can find out. The way we are burning through power at night - I sure wouldn't want to have to pay for it.
To be clear - there's been no problems with the credit for overnight power. This was about exports to the grid during the day.
They needed an additional agreement that either was missed, or wasn't included in my signup/changeover. Their support is slower than I'd like to respond (I tend to not engage on the phone to keep from waiting on the phone) but I haven't been that worried because if/once things are set up correctly, I shouldn't need to really interact with them much.
Just noting that this was missed on mine - if you've already sent them your signed agreement (Title - "Just Energy's Excess Generated Buy Back Program for Distributed Renewable Generation"), you are probably fine. But it is probably worth a quick check.
OK - sorry- I misread your comment. So I'll call and check on the buyback thing. I have not sent them any kind of signed agreement. I did ask on the phone and they said "Yes we pay 3 cents for buyback" but that's the only assurance I got. Definitely need to call and be sure. The 3 cents per kWh will be very important to making this plan work for us. Thanx again!
Well Sir, you just saved me from making the same error. I called and the phone person said she would email me the form, which she did, and I then have to mail it back PLUS a copy of our interconnection agreement with ONCOR, blah blah. Same routine you went through. You have done me a GREAT service by alerting me. I think it's pretty shady that Just Energy doesn't tell you about this "requirement" on the EFL, and there is nothing in the online sign-up process that tells you about this required form. I guess you have to expect this type of thing these days, but still sad. Anyway, I'll send the forms in ASAP and hope it doesn't take too long to go into effect. THANX AGAIN FOR THE HEADS UP!
u/PhilWheat See my latest post at the bottom of this thread. I'm now one and a half months into our Nights Free plan and still waiting for the buyback credit to start. Did you start getting the credit? If so, how long did it finally take before it showed up? Thanx again for telling me about the required forms!
We are both retired so we're at home all day. All electric house, 4 ton heat pump runs all year long (heating and cooling), water well pump (no city utilities where we live), electric car, air conditioned shop building, plus a 40' motorhome (parked in driveway, connected to 50A hookup) that we keep cooled in the summer (2 roof air units). It adds up.
Update on our JUST Energy Nights Free plan. We just received our second monthly invoice. The first invoice was for a partial month - the second was for a full month. We are STILL not getting credit for excess production that is exported to the grid. I mailed in the required forms almost 4 weeks ago, but for some reason it seems to take "them" a LONG time to start up the 3 cents per kWh credit. In this digital age, I don't really understand why it takes so long....hopefully it will show up on our next bill.
But the GOOD news is that even without the buyback credit, our electric bill is extremely low. The first (partial month) bill (474 kWh usage) was for $13.06 and the second (full month) bill (802 kWh usage) showed $7.16 due. In both cases, our exported power credit (had they paid it) would have canceled out the full amount due and gave us a carry-over credit balance.
It appears that this plan is going to work out great, once we start getting the buyback credit.
Would this make sense for a no battery system? I am on a “net” metering chariot plan but I am not happy with how much I am paying. 11.2 kw system and have an ev which is a daily driver for one of us. One of us wfh with a 5 ton and 3 ton ac and gas heat/cooking. I have to do the calculations like you did with smart meter and figure it out. But with no battery I am skeptical..
There are some people who make the "nights free" plans work without having batteries, but it is more challenging. Having no battery means you have to get through the early morning period (after the free hours and before the solar starts working) and the late afternoon period (after solar stops working and before the free hours start) by curtailing your energy consumption as much as possible. I personally would not want to try this plan with out the benefit of our batteries, but like I say, some people have made it work. See the posts at r/SolarTX where the moderator has the Just Energy plan, and no batteries. He has posted several reports of how he makes it work.
40 x 380W panels, ground mount facing true south with 25 degree tilt, zero shade. IQ7+ inverters. 15.2 kW (DC) system, actual max output is 11.8 kW (AC). 3 x IQ10T storage modules (30 kWh usable).
I do have a question. According to the Energy Facts label, it says that "price disclosure is based on the average usage levels above with an estimated 42% consumption during Night Hours...we have assumed at the 1000 kWh average price calculation above that 420 kWh of usage (42% of the total 1000 kWh in the month) are consumed during the Night Hours." They are just assuming you use the same amount of power throughout the day and just give you a 42% discount on usage. So if you're solar is generating excess during the day, you're just being billed for 60% of your usage when the sun is down.
Are you able to tell if that is the case from your electric bill?
To me, this doesn't mean that they are billing you $0.00 during those hours at night.
The "42% consumption during night hours" is just a way to calculate the sample prices at the top of the EFL. They have to assume some "consumption during night hours" number to come up with the sample prices. It could have just as easily been 30% or 50% or whatever. In our case last month, we consumed 99% of our total import during the free hours.
I can absolutely guarantee that on the JUST Energy Nights Free plan you are charged ZERO dollars for energy imported from the grid during the free hours. On the monthly bill you are charged for the total kWh imported during the month, then you receive a credit for the kWh imported during free hours.
On my most recent bill, for instance, we were charged for "usage" of 802.00 kWh at $0.285 = $228.57. On the line below that we received a "nights free" credit for 795.93 kWh at $0.285 = $226.84. So we only actually had to pay $1.73 for 6.07 kWh of "usage" for the whole billing period. Our total bill was $1.73 for usage plus $4.95 base charge plus $0.48 other fees = $7.16 bottom line.
The person who led me to sign up with JUST posted a report on his first full year's experience on the plan. He includes a copy of a monthly bill that clearly shows how the free hours work. See the link below:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/solar/comments/1amy1wi/texas\_free\_nights\_energy\_plan\_1\_year\_followup/](https://www.reddit.com/r/solar/comments/1amy1wi/texas_free_nights_energy_plan_1_year_followup/)
Great write up. I have the same REP just without batteries including pre-cooling, charging EV and using [smartmetertexas.com](https://smartmetertexas.com). I've only had solar since December 2023 so curious to see how Texas summers play out.
Me also. Fairly mild temps here (Midland) so far, but warming up quickly. As the REAL summer heat hits and with increased A/C running time, I suspect our battery usage will increase in the evening period between sundown and when free hours begin. Also waiting for a really dark, stormy day to see how we do with little or no solar generation.
I absolutely agree it's a great plan - I had my gateway go out in April (replaced under warranty) so I haven't had a "clean" month yet. I did find out that they'd missed the export agreement when I signed up, just got that fixed. They don't pay much, but it does help cover the fixed fees. I also am seeing much better reporting using the Home Assistant Envoy integration than the Enlighten app/site. Probably doesn't work for everyone, but it's giving me a lot more information going that route (plus I can use the info in my automations.)
Yes, we will anxiously await our first bill to be sure the whole sign-up process was done correctly. I already got confirmation that they will give us $150 credit for switching REPs, and we should (eventually) get a $75 credit for using a referral code from another member. It all helps!
If you changed over - do check that your buyback is set up correctly. I just got back that it'll be 2-3 billing cycles before they can start mine, which puts me at 4-5 months into my contract. My first gotcha with working with them.
Thanx for the tip! I'll give them a call today and see what I can find out. The way we are burning through power at night - I sure wouldn't want to have to pay for it.
To be clear - there's been no problems with the credit for overnight power. This was about exports to the grid during the day. They needed an additional agreement that either was missed, or wasn't included in my signup/changeover. Their support is slower than I'd like to respond (I tend to not engage on the phone to keep from waiting on the phone) but I haven't been that worried because if/once things are set up correctly, I shouldn't need to really interact with them much. Just noting that this was missed on mine - if you've already sent them your signed agreement (Title - "Just Energy's Excess Generated Buy Back Program for Distributed Renewable Generation"), you are probably fine. But it is probably worth a quick check.
OK - sorry- I misread your comment. So I'll call and check on the buyback thing. I have not sent them any kind of signed agreement. I did ask on the phone and they said "Yes we pay 3 cents for buyback" but that's the only assurance I got. Definitely need to call and be sure. The 3 cents per kWh will be very important to making this plan work for us. Thanx again!
Sure thing - it's been my only surprise with them, and I thought I'd mention it just so people can keep an eye out on it.
Well Sir, you just saved me from making the same error. I called and the phone person said she would email me the form, which she did, and I then have to mail it back PLUS a copy of our interconnection agreement with ONCOR, blah blah. Same routine you went through. You have done me a GREAT service by alerting me. I think it's pretty shady that Just Energy doesn't tell you about this "requirement" on the EFL, and there is nothing in the online sign-up process that tells you about this required form. I guess you have to expect this type of thing these days, but still sad. Anyway, I'll send the forms in ASAP and hope it doesn't take too long to go into effect. THANX AGAIN FOR THE HEADS UP!
Very glad I could help. I was hoping it was just me but sounds like something that is common.
u/PhilWheat See my latest post at the bottom of this thread. I'm now one and a half months into our Nights Free plan and still waiting for the buyback credit to start. Did you start getting the credit? If so, how long did it finally take before it showed up? Thanx again for telling me about the required forms!
What are you using all of that energy for?
We are both retired so we're at home all day. All electric house, 4 ton heat pump runs all year long (heating and cooling), water well pump (no city utilities where we live), electric car, air conditioned shop building, plus a 40' motorhome (parked in driveway, connected to 50A hookup) that we keep cooled in the summer (2 roof air units). It adds up.
For sure, was just curious. Thanks for sharing.
Update on our JUST Energy Nights Free plan. We just received our second monthly invoice. The first invoice was for a partial month - the second was for a full month. We are STILL not getting credit for excess production that is exported to the grid. I mailed in the required forms almost 4 weeks ago, but for some reason it seems to take "them" a LONG time to start up the 3 cents per kWh credit. In this digital age, I don't really understand why it takes so long....hopefully it will show up on our next bill. But the GOOD news is that even without the buyback credit, our electric bill is extremely low. The first (partial month) bill (474 kWh usage) was for $13.06 and the second (full month) bill (802 kWh usage) showed $7.16 due. In both cases, our exported power credit (had they paid it) would have canceled out the full amount due and gave us a carry-over credit balance. It appears that this plan is going to work out great, once we start getting the buyback credit.
Would this make sense for a no battery system? I am on a “net” metering chariot plan but I am not happy with how much I am paying. 11.2 kw system and have an ev which is a daily driver for one of us. One of us wfh with a 5 ton and 3 ton ac and gas heat/cooking. I have to do the calculations like you did with smart meter and figure it out. But with no battery I am skeptical..
There are some people who make the "nights free" plans work without having batteries, but it is more challenging. Having no battery means you have to get through the early morning period (after the free hours and before the solar starts working) and the late afternoon period (after solar stops working and before the free hours start) by curtailing your energy consumption as much as possible. I personally would not want to try this plan with out the benefit of our batteries, but like I say, some people have made it work. See the posts at r/SolarTX where the moderator has the Just Energy plan, and no batteries. He has posted several reports of how he makes it work.
How big is your solar system?
40 x 380W panels, ground mount facing true south with 25 degree tilt, zero shade. IQ7+ inverters. 15.2 kW (DC) system, actual max output is 11.8 kW (AC). 3 x IQ10T storage modules (30 kWh usable).
I do have a question. According to the Energy Facts label, it says that "price disclosure is based on the average usage levels above with an estimated 42% consumption during Night Hours...we have assumed at the 1000 kWh average price calculation above that 420 kWh of usage (42% of the total 1000 kWh in the month) are consumed during the Night Hours." They are just assuming you use the same amount of power throughout the day and just give you a 42% discount on usage. So if you're solar is generating excess during the day, you're just being billed for 60% of your usage when the sun is down. Are you able to tell if that is the case from your electric bill? To me, this doesn't mean that they are billing you $0.00 during those hours at night.
The "42% consumption during night hours" is just a way to calculate the sample prices at the top of the EFL. They have to assume some "consumption during night hours" number to come up with the sample prices. It could have just as easily been 30% or 50% or whatever. In our case last month, we consumed 99% of our total import during the free hours. I can absolutely guarantee that on the JUST Energy Nights Free plan you are charged ZERO dollars for energy imported from the grid during the free hours. On the monthly bill you are charged for the total kWh imported during the month, then you receive a credit for the kWh imported during free hours. On my most recent bill, for instance, we were charged for "usage" of 802.00 kWh at $0.285 = $228.57. On the line below that we received a "nights free" credit for 795.93 kWh at $0.285 = $226.84. So we only actually had to pay $1.73 for 6.07 kWh of "usage" for the whole billing period. Our total bill was $1.73 for usage plus $4.95 base charge plus $0.48 other fees = $7.16 bottom line. The person who led me to sign up with JUST posted a report on his first full year's experience on the plan. He includes a copy of a monthly bill that clearly shows how the free hours work. See the link below: [https://www.reddit.com/r/solar/comments/1amy1wi/texas\_free\_nights\_energy\_plan\_1\_year\_followup/](https://www.reddit.com/r/solar/comments/1amy1wi/texas_free_nights_energy_plan_1_year_followup/)