San Diego Community Power relaunches Solar Battery Savings program with $19 million initial funding; contractor enrollment opens

San Diego Community Power announced the relaunch of its Solar Battery Savings program, saying it will open contractor enrollment immediately and begin accepting customer applications on Sept. 30 after the board approved initial funding.

The program will start with a $19,000,000 appropriation approved in the agency’s fiscal process and a five‑year investment plan that projects multiyear funding of $55,000,000, Colin Santulli, who oversees the customer energy program team at San Diego Community Power, told contractors during a webinar. "We are opening applications Sept. 30," Santulli said.

The program aims to expand rooftop solar-plus-storage in single‑family homes, prioritize underserved communities and eligible low‑income customers, and use aggregated battery capacity to reduce peak demand on the grid. Organizers described the relaunch as a multi‑year program designed to avoid the start‑stop funding shortages that affected last summer’s pilot, which Santulli said was fully subscribed by November.

Program incentives and limits

Incentives are tiered by customer type and whether a homeowner is installing new solar with storage or adding storage to an existing solar system. The upfront rebate rates range from about $250 to $500 per kilowatt‑hour of usable battery capacity, plus a 10¢ per kWh performance payment for energy discharged during dispatch windows. The program retains a $10,000 cap on total incentives per participant. Program staff said upfront rebate amounts may be reduced if participants receive other external incentives so that total rebates do not exceed project cost.

Eligibility and priorities

To qualify, customers…