Solar in Disadvantaged Communities

Assembly Bill (AB) 327 (Perea, 2013) directed the California Public Utilities Commission (the CPUC) to develop specific alternatives designed to increase adoption of renewable generation in disadvantaged communities (DACs). In June 2018, the CPUC created three programs to increase access to solar for residents of disadvantaged communities located within PG&E's, SCE's, or SDG&E's service territory in Decision (D.)18-06-027. The programs are:

1.  Disadvantaged Communities - Single-family Solar Homes (DAC-SASH)  

This program enables income-qualified homeowners in DACs to receive no-cost rooftop solar installations.  DAC-SASH is run by GRID Alternatives and is currently accepting applications.  Visit GRID Alternatives' website to see if you qualify and to apply.

DAC-SASH Marketing, Education, and Outreach Plans:

DAC-SASH 2021 Marketing, Education, and Outreach (ME&O) Plan

DAC-SASH program's 2020 Marketing, Education, and Outreach (ME&O) Plan

2.  Disadvantaged Communities - Green-Tariff (DAC-GT)  

The program enables income-qualified, residential customers in DACs who may be unable to install solar on their roof to benefit from utility scale clean energy and receive a 20% bill discount. PG&E anticipates launching DAC-GT for customers in March 2020 but this program is not yet accepting customer applications. PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E will be launching project solicitations in the coming months. Please check back for updates.

3.  Community Solar Green Tariff (CSGT) 

This program enables residential customers in DACs who may be unable to install solar on their roof to benefit from a local solar project and receive a 20% bill discount. PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E will be launching project solicitations in the coming months. Please check back for updates. 

Defining Eligible Communities

To define disadvantaged communities which communities are eligible for these solar programs, the CPUC relied CalEnviroScreen, which identifies California communities by census tract that are disproportionately burdened by and vulnerable to multiple sources of pollution.

For these programs, the CPUC defines a "disadvantaged community" as a community that appears among the top 25 percent of sensus tracts identified by CalEnviroScreen statewide, as well as 22 census tracts in the highest 5 percent of CalEnviroScreen's Pollution Burden, but that do not have an overall CalEnviroScreen score because of unreliable socioeconomic or health data.  DACs eligible for these solar programs can be explored by clicking here.

To learn more about the Commission’s work with disadvantaged communities click here.  

Program Descriptions

Disadvantaged Communities - Single-family Solar Homes (DAC-SASH)

The Disadvantaged Communities - Single-family Solar Homes (DAC-SASH) program, modeled after the Single-family Affordable Solar Homes (SASH) Program, provides assistance in the form of up-front financial incentives for the installation of rooftop solar generating systems. The incentives provided through DAC-SASH assist low-income DAC customers in overcoming barriers to the installation of onsite solar energy, such as lack of capital or credit needed to finance a solar installation.

The DAC-SASH program also incorporates job training objectives to promote green-collar jobs in low-income communities and to develop a trained workforce that will foster a sustainable solar industry in California. Through a competitive solicitation, GRID Alternatives was selected to serve as the statewide program administrator for the DAC-SASH program. GRID's DAC-SASH Program Handbook and Program Implementation Plan were approved by the CPUC in Resolution E-5020 on September 12, 2019, signaling the official launch of the DAC-SASH program.

The DAC-SASH Program issued its second Semi-Annual Progress Report in July 2020, which provides detailed information on the program's progress in each of the three service territories in California.  Please visit GRID's DAC-SASH website to apply to DAC-SASH and learn more about program implementation.  You can also find here the DAC-SASH program's 2020 Marketing, Education and Outreach (ME&O) Plan, published in late 2019.

Search by address on the State's CES 3.0 map, to determine geographic eligibility.

Highlights and milestones for the Program through July 1, 2020 include:

• A total of 515 PV systems have been installed and interconnected across all three utility territories.
• 113 projects have incentives reserved and are awaiting installation or interconnection.
• 103 applications are under review.
• In total these projects have or will receive approximately $6.4 million in incentives and represent 2.1 MW of solar capacity.
• The program has referred over 900 low-icome homeowners to the utilities' Energy Savings Assistance (ESA) program.

Disadvantaged Communities - Green Tariff (DAC-GT)

The Disadvantaged Communities - Green Tariff (DAC-GT) program is modeled after the Green Tariff portion of the Green Tariff/Shared Renewables Program (GTSR). DAC-GT allows customers who are not in a position to take advantage of SOMAH or DAC-SASH through onsite solar, to still benefit from solar energy.

PG&E's, SCE's, and SDG&E's implementation plans for the DAC-GT program were approved with modification in Resolution E-4999.

Community Solar Green Tariff (CSGT)

The Community Solar Green Tariff (CSGT) program is a variation on the Green Tariff/Shared Renewables Program. It is structured similarly to the DAC-Green Tariff program but requires each solar project to be located in proximity to the customers it serves.

The CSGT program also provides participating customers a sense of ownership in locally-generated solar power via the required participation of a community sponsor. Community sponsors will help ensure interest from the local community and community engagement in project siting. If eligible, community sponsors can receive a 20 percent bill discount on up to 25 percent of a CSGT project's energy output.

PG&E's, SCE's, and SDG&E's implementation plans for the CSGT program were approved with modification in Resolution E-4999.

Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs)

Decision 18-06-027 specifically authorized CCAs to launch their own DAC-GT and CSGT programs as long as they met all the rules and requirements established in the Decision.

The Energy Division held a public workshop on September 16, 2019 to discuss CCA program implementation issues. The workshop agenda is available here. The workshop presentations are available here and here.  Please note that the presentations are provided for discussion purposes only.

Regulatory Documents

• D.18-06-027:  Decision creating the DAC-SASH, DAC-GT, and CSGT programs 
• D.18-10-007:  Decision correcting and clarifying Decision 18-06-027. 
• Resolution E-4999:  Approves PG&E's, SCE's, and SDG&E's DAC-GT and CSGT program implementation plans with modifications.
• Resolution E-5020:  Approves GRID Alternative's DAC-SASH Program Handbook and Program Implementation Plan.