The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today announced a significant expansion and improvement to its community solar programs.
The new initiatives aim to unlock millions of dollars in state and federal funding, including the Solar For All grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, supported by the Biden Administration.
The decision doubles the capacity of the Disadvantaged Community Green Tariff (DAC-GT) program, a community solar initiative designed for low-income customers in disadvantaged communities. This expansion allows more customers to subscribe to solar projects and receive a 20% discount on their electricity bills.
The CPUC also enhanced the Green Tariff Program, making it accessible to all customers, regardless of income level, and allowing them to participate in community solar projects without impacting other customers’ rates.
New Community Renewable Energy Program Launched
Additionally, the CPUC launched a new Community Renewable Energy Program, enabling customers to subscribe to individual solar projects. This program prioritizes cost minimization for all participants, aligning with Assembly Bill 2316, while creating mechanisms to secure external funding.
Key Program Highlights
- Disadvantaged Community Green Tariff Program: Expanded to 144 megawatts (MWs), benefiting an estimated 45,000 additional customers and supporting 45 new solar projects. The program’s geographic boundaries also expanded to include more eligible projects serving low-income areas.
- Green Tariff Program: Enhanced to stabilize charges and credits, align with other clean energy efforts, incorporate battery storage, and potentially expand beyond its current capacity cap.
- New Community Renewable Energy Program: Open to all customers, with 51% of each project’s capacity reserved for low-income subscribers. Community choice aggregators can now participate, and compensation for solar exports is set at cost-avoidance levels, with additional incentives from state and federal funds that don’t burden electricity bills.
The CPUC’s decision aligns with the Legislature’s direction to minimize costs for customers who do not participate in the new community solar program. The program caps costs, ensuring they do not exceed what utilities would pay to purchase electricity from alternative sources. This approach recognizes that customer electricity bills fund community solar programs. With rising electricity prices in California, these programs must align with the state’s broader goal of achieving a 100% clean energy future as affordably as possible.
California’s Clean Energy Leadership and Solar Dominance
Beyond community solar, California demonstrates its clean energy leadership through competitive solicitations, adding 10,800 MWs of new clean energy projects to the grid since January 2020.
California also leads the nation in solar deployment, boasting 35,000 MWs of installed solar capacity, which generates nearly 30% of the state’s electricity. This significantly surpasses the national average of 5%. In fact, California’s solar capacity often exceeds the peak demand of the entire system. On May 13, 2024, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) reported a new record high of nearly 19 gigawatts of solar energy output, enough to power millions of homes.