Los Angeles Department of Water and Power net energy metering: tiers, fees and insurance

Q: How does Los Angeles Department of Water and Power net energy metering measure system size?

The published limits do not say whether they are measured in alternating or direct current.

How the size is measured: not published

The published limits here are stated in kilowatts without saying whether that is the inverter rating in alternating current or the array rating in direct current. On a system near a threshold that decides which band it lands in, so the checker asks the question rather than choosing an answer.

Size bands and what each one obliges

Type 1, up to 30 kW aggregate Size 0 to 30 kW	A $130 submittal fee applies to every project and there is no additional expenditure recovery charge at this size. The on site pre construction meeting is optional; photos and documents are used instead. No insurance is required. $130 fee due at submittal AC disconnect device per the Electric Service Requirements Electromechanical performance meter if the inverter has no built in performance metering
Type 3, over 30 kW to under 1 MW Size 30.001 to 999.999 kW	An on site pre construction meeting becomes mandatory. Expenditure recovery is $1,365 above 30 kW up to and including 100 kW, and actual LADWP expenditure above 100 kW. The long form interconnection agreement is not downloadable and must be requested by telephone. $130 fee due at submittal $1,365 expenditure recovery to 100 kW, or actual cost above it Mandatory on site pre construction meeting Long form interconnection agreement obtained by phone from the cogeneration coordinator
Type 4, 1 MW and above Size 1000 to 20000 kW	Above 1 MW the system is not eligible for net energy metering and is placed on a parallel generation rate, Schedule CG-2 or CG-3. $130 fee due at submittal Actual LADWP expenditure recovery Mandatory on site pre construction meeting

Type 1, up to 30 kW aggregate Size 0 to 30 kW

A $130 submittal fee applies to every project and there is no additional expenditure recovery charge at this size. The on site pre construction meeting is optional; photos and documents are used instead. No insurance is required.

$130 fee due at submittal
AC disconnect device per the Electric Service Requirements
Electromechanical performance meter if the inverter has no built in performance metering

Type 3, over 30 kW to under 1 MW Size 30.001 to 999.999 kW

An on site pre construction meeting becomes mandatory. Expenditure recovery is $1,365 above 30 kW up to and including 100 kW, and actual LADWP expenditure above 100 kW. The long form interconnection agreement is not downloadable and must be requested by telephone.

$130 fee due at submittal
$1,365 expenditure recovery to 100 kW, or actual cost above it
Mandatory on site pre construction meeting
Long form interconnection agreement obtained by phone from the cogeneration coordinator

Type 4, 1 MW and above Size 1000 to 20000 kW

Above 1 MW the system is not eligible for net energy metering and is placed on a parallel generation rate, Schedule CG-2 or CG-3.

$130 fee due at submittal
Actual LADWP expenditure recovery
Mandatory on site pre construction meeting

The screens that decide it

Within the 1 MW net energy metering ceiling Limit 1000 kW.
Net energy metering is limited to solar systems of 1 MW AC-CEC or less. Above that the customer goes onto a parallel generation rate instead, which pays differently.
Within Type 1, which configuration can defeat regardless of size Limit 30 kW.
A system under 30 kW leaves Type 1 and enters Type 2 if it involves a service panel upgrade, three phase service, non net metered cogeneration, or a multi meter building. The kilowatts do not change; the review path and the schedule do.

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

How is kW AC-CEC computed for this system? The term routes the application and is never defined in the guidelines, and it is not the same number as the nameplate AC figure the fee schedule uses.
How long will review and permission to operate take? LADWP publishes no timeline at any stage.
Does this address require a service panel upgrade or three phase service? Either moves a small system out of Type 1.

Worth knowing before you quote

No insurance is required at any size, confirmed by reading both revisions of the guidelines. No percentage of consumption cap, no percentage of service cap and no transformer cap are published. No fifteen percent screen, no minimum load test and no hosting capacity screen are published. An optional engineering feasibility study is $1,500, non refundable and payable in advance. Return trips beyond two site visits are $100 each. Credits offset everything except taxes and minimum charges, and any credit balance is zeroed with no compensation when the customer closes the account. Leases must run at least ten years, must carry an ownership option, and payments may not be based on production. Business names on the agreement must match active California Secretary of State records.

Source

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Net Energy Metering Guidelines revised 23 November 2020, with the published Type 1 to 4 Interconnection requirements and the Interconnection Expenditure Recovery Charges schedule dated 23 November 2020

Read and recorded 2026-09-12. Publicly owned utility, outside its state's interconnection rule. Its own published documents govern. LADWP routes by system size and configuration rather than by circuit screens, and publishes no approval or permission to operate timeline of any kind.

All California interconnection rules

Size bands and what each one obliges

The screens that decide it

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

Worth knowing before you quote

What to do with this