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 must be active San Diego Community Power residential customers; customers who have opted out of Community Power must re‑enroll to participate. Participating batteries must be charged by on‑site solar only (grid charging is not permitted for program enrollment), and existing battery systems are not eligible at launch. The program reserves at least 50% of funding for customers in historically underserved areas: 40% for communities of concern and 10% for CARE/FERA (low‑income) customers. The portal includes an address lookup that returns CARE/FERA or community‑of‑concern status.

Contractor enrollment, requirements and portal

Contractors must apply by Sept. 25 to participate at launch; Community Power opened the contractor enrollment process during the webinar. The agency requires a valid California contractor license (C‑10 or C‑46 accepted), a local business address in San Diego County (no PO boxes), at least five years in business under the same license number, and at least 15 battery installations within the SDG&E service territory. Contractors must sign a program agreement that includes a 10‑year workmanship warranty.

The program uses a two‑step application: an application package (project creation and sizing) and a final installation package (device IDs, proof of interconnection/PTO, and commissioning screenshots). The contractor portal includes a map/address tool for eligibility checks, an automated and a manual system‑sizing tool, an updates feed, a capacity tracker (by installed capacity, not dollars) and automated participant enrollment forms. "It is set up that way," Marlena Maurer, a senior associate on the team, said about the portal’s automated email notifications for status changes.

Dispatch, operations and technology

All dispatches will align with the on‑peak period, generally between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m., and events will occur weekdays only. At program launch, participants must commit 50% of usable battery capacity for aggregation; staff said they are exploring options to allow higher discharge during longer events without adding excessive administrative complexity. Community Power will aggregate batteries using a distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) called Virtual Peaker; battery manufacturers will need to integrate with that platform before their products become eligible.

Third‑party ownership and stacking programs

Third‑party‑owned (TPO) systems may participate if the TPO provider grants written authorization allowing the customer to enroll the battery in the program; Community Power has created an acknowledgment form for this purpose. The agency also said it is pursuing enrollment into other programs (referred to as DSGS in the webinar) and noted a potential conflict with the Self‑Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) while a CPUC proposed decision that would remove SGIP’s demand‑response requirement remains pending adoption. "Technically, until that is a final decision, there is a conflict," Santulli said.

Timeline, payments and compliance

Staff said review of application packages and installation packages typically takes about two weeks each. Installations observed in the pilot took roughly three to six months; OEM operationalization and DERMS onboarding typically takes one to three weeks after installation, and rebate payments are expected within about two weeks of battery operationalization. Contractors should submit installation packages — including PTO screenshots and device unique IDs — within six months of project approval or request a six‑month extension. Program compliance measures include the right to third‑party inspections, a complaint tracking process, corrective actions up to program removal, and an inactivity policy that removes contractors who do not create a new project in the portal for six months.

What the agency asked of contractors

Community Power staff urged contractors to run the portal’s system‑sizing tool prior to finalizing contracts with customers, and to hold off signing contracts until the program launches so projects have a contract execution date after launch. "We require that all projects have a contract execution date after program launch," Santulli said. Staff also encouraged contractors to attend planned office hours and customer workshops, and said the agency will publish an approved‑contractor list on its website.

Why it matters

If the program deploys at scale, Community Power said it expects batteries aggregated from hundreds or thousands of homes to provide near‑term capacity value for procurement planning while delivering bill savings to participating customers. The agency emphasized prioritizing underserved communities and offering CARE/FERA customers higher incentive rates.

The webinar concluded with a Q&A and a reminder that contractor applications opened the same day and that Community Power will send follow‑up emails and resources to attendees, including a contractor agreement and portal access instructions.