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Solar Battery Savings program draws broad contractor participation; staff reports 1,600 projects approved
Summary
San Diego Community Power reported the Solar Battery Savings program approved more than 1,600 residential projects and enrolled capacity that will contribute megawatts of battery dispatch capacity for on‑peak hours; staff paused new applications in November after funds were allocated.
San Diego Community Power staff reported progress on the agency’s Solar Battery Savings program on Jan. 23, saying the program approved more than 1,600 residential projects and enrolled several megawatts of battery capacity to support evening demand.
Emily Fisher, senior program manager for the initiative, presented results and said staff halted application intake in early November after funding had been fully allocated. Fisher told the board the program approved over 1,600 projects and more than 2,100 batteries and had paid upfront incentives on 572 projects (about 35% of the program budget) as of the report. Staff said average incentives varied by customer tier and the program included both upfront and performance components; eligible customers included market‑rate customers as well as CARE/FERA and designated communities of concern.
Program design included contractor and battery‑manufacturer training, a cap limiting a single contractor to 25% of total program budget, mandatory contractor training and weekly office hours for participating contractors. Staff reported 50 contractors were approved for the program, 77% of those actively participated, about 37% of contractors were certified diverse business enterprises, and 40% of contractors had 15 projects or more.
Fisher said the program included workforce and equity goals: staff targeted that 50% of incentives serve communities of concern and required contractor commitments to workforce standards. She also said the program emerged from policy changes at the California Public Utilities Commission that reduced rooftop‑only solar compensation and increased the policy case for pairing batteries with solar. Community Power staff said the program has been featured as a national case study (U.S. Department of Energy) and that staff will conduct a program evaluation this quarter to inform future iterations.
Board members congratulated staff for rapid implementation and staff said they are exploring a small nonresidential pilot for batteries. Staff will return with evaluation results and any recommended changes for future program rounds.
