Solar in Disadvantaged Communities

To find out if you live in a community that is eligible for these solar programs described below, find your address in this map. Income-qualified homeowners in eligible communities, please visit GRID Alternatives’ website to learn about having solar installed through the DAC-SASH program.

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. Program evaluation information is at the bottom of this page under “Events and Documents”. 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:

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. The program is modeled after the existing Green Tariff portion of the Green Tariff/Shared Renewables Programs and is available to customers who meet the income eligibility requirements for the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) and Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) programs.

PG&E launched its DAC-GT program in February 2020 and automatically enrolled eligible customers up to its capacity cap per D.20-07-008. Clean Power Alliance launched its program in January 2021 and is currently enrolling customers. The three large investor-owned utilities (PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E) and ten Community Choice Aggregators (Clean Power Alliance, CleanPower-SF, East Bay Community Energy, Lancaster Choice Energy, Marin Clean Energy, Peninsula Clean Energy, Pico Rivera Innovative Municipal Energy, San Jacinto Power, San Jose Clean Energy, and San Diego Community Power) have launched or will be launching project solicitations.

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. The communities work with a local non-profit or government “sponsor” to organize community interest and present siting locations to the utility or CCA; the sponsor can also receive an incentive for its efforts.

The three large investor-owned utilities (PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E) and five Community Choice Aggregators (Clean Power Alliance, CleanPowerSF, East Bay Community Energy, Marin Clean Energy, Peninsula Clean Energy, and San Diego Community Power) have launched or will be launching project solicitations.

Defining Eligible Communities

To define disadvantaged communities which communities are eligible for these solar programs, the CPUC relied on 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 census 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. They current handbook was approved in 2021.

The DAC-SASH Program July 2024 Semi-Annual Progress Report 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.

Search by address on the State's CES 4.0 map, to determine geographic eligibility.

As directed by CPUC Decision (D.) 15-01-027 and D.18-06-027, Evergreen Economics and Brightline Group completed an evaluation of DAC-SASH, and its predecessor program SASH. Details on DAC-SASH evaluations are located below under the “Events and Documents” section. Notifications are sent to R.12-11-005 and R.14-07-002 service lists.

Highlights and milestones for the Program through February 2023 include:

Over 1,729 PV systems have been installed and interconnected across all three utility territories.
In total these projects have or will receive approximately $14.2 million in incentives and represent 54.5 MW of solar capacity.
The program has referred nearly 2,000 low-income homeowners to the utilities' Energy Savings Assistance Program (ESA), of which about a third enrolled in the program.

Eligible customers:	Income-qualified, single-family homeowners inDACs (must be eligible for CARE or FERA)
Customers receive:	$3/watt incentives to install an onsite solar system and energy efficiency training
Project location:	In DACs on a qualified customer's property
Project size:	1 kilowatt (kW) - 5 kilowatts (kW)
Program budget:	$120 million total ($10 million per year 2019 - 2030)

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.

Eligible customers:	Income eligible residential customers in DACs (must be eligible for CARE or FERA)
Customers receive:	100% renewable energy 20% off their otherwise applicable electric rate
Project location:	In DACs
Project size:	500 kilowatts (kW) - 20 megawatts (MW)
Program capacity: (MW caps within each utility's service territory, with some capacity reserved for CCAs)	PG&E: 70 MW
	SCE: 70 MW
	SDG&E:18 MW

Please check the DAC-GT link above for more information and updates.

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.

Eligible customers:	Residential customers in DACs or in San Joaquin Valley (SJV) pilot communities identified in R.15-03-010. (50% of a project’s output must be subscribed by customers eligible for CARE or FERA)
Customers receive:	100% renewable energy 20% off their otherwise applicable electric rate
Project location:	In DACs within 5 miles of DAC(s) where subscribing customers reside or within 40 miles for SJV pilot communities
Project size:	No minimum size ~ 4.4* (MW) *4.4 MW is the maximum project size for SCE, PG&E’s maximum project size is 4.3 MW, other jurisdictions are capped at 3 MW
Program capacity: (MW caps within each utility's service territory, with some capacity reserved for CCAs)	PG&E:18 MW
	SCE:18 MW
	SDG&E:5 MW

Please check the CSGT link above for more information and updates.

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.
D.20-07-008: Decision implementing automatic enrollment of PG&E's DAC-GT program.
D.20-12-003: Decision regarding PFM of D.18-06-027, providing direction regarding marketing and outreach of DAC-SASH, and expanding DAC-SASH eligibility to California Indian Country.
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.
Resolution E-5102: Approves Clean Power Alliance’s DAC-GT and CSGT program implementation plans with modifications.
Resolution E-5124: Approves CleanPowerSF’s, East Bay Community Energy’s, Marin Clean Energy’s, Peninsula Clean Energy’s, and San Jose Clean Energy’s DAC-GT and/or CSGT program implementation plans with modifications.
Resolution E-5125: Approves with modification PG&E’s and SCE’s requests to adjust administrative and marketing budget caps for the DAC-GT and/or CSGT programs.
Resolution E-5130: Approves Lancaster Choice Energy’s, Pico Rivera Innovative Municipal Energy’s, and San Jacinto Power’s DAC-GT program implementation plans with modifications.
Resolution E-5212: Approves two PFMs of Resolution E-4999, updates CalEnviroScreen geographic eligibility requirements, and expands DAC-GT and CSGT eligibility to California Indian Country.
Resolution E-5246: Approves San Diego Community Power’s DAC-GT and CSGT program implementation plans with modifications.

Events and Documents

DAC-SASH Program

2019-2021 Evaluation: Evergreen Economics and the Brightline Group completed Process and Load Impact Evaluations of the SASH and DAC-SASH programs.
Energy Division staff analyzed costs of preparing houses for DAC-SASH solar installation and some funding options in Closing the Funding Gap: Evaluating Solar-Readiness Costs in California's Disadvantaged Communities - Single Family Affordable Homes (DAC-SASH) Program. The report has been redacted to protect confidential information.

Community Solar Programs

2021 Statewide Independent Evaluation
- Pursuant to D.18-06-027, Energy Division is directed to conduct evaluations of the DAC-GT and CSGT programs every three years beginning in 2021. Evergreen Economics has be contracted by SDG&E on behalf of the CPUC to evaluate the process and load impacts of the programs.
Community Solar Proceeding A.22-05-022
- D.24-05-065 expanded and improved existing community solar programs and launched a new community renewable energy program that will allow California to capture millions of dollars in state and federal funding, including the Solar For All grant recently awarded to California by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through support of the Biden Administration. More information can be found at www.cpuc.ca.gov/communitysolar.
- Proceeding A.22-05-022 began in May 2022 and included the legislative directives of AB 2316 (Ward, 2022) and AB 2838 (O’Donnell, 2022), which required the Commission to review its existing customer renewable energy subscription programs including DAC Green Tariff, Community Solar Green Tariff and Green Tariff Shared Renewables programs and consider whether to adopt a new community renewable energy program. This proceeding reviewed program goals, budget, capacity, design, implementation, and consumer protections.
- D.21-12-036, issued in December 2021, also directed that the IOUs include implementation details for the Green Tariff Shared Renewable (GTSR) Program in their DAC-GT & CSGT Applications.
- Energy Division staff shared a guidance template and held a public webinar in September 2021 to better communicate what additional information the Applications should include. Any additional topics from stakeholders can be raised by parties in comments on the Applications, to be submitted via the R.14-07-002 Service List and cross-posted to the GTSR A.12-01-008. You can request to be added to a service list here or subscribe to published documents here.