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Board approves rooftop solar and commercial-solar PPAs with local developer Lumenia
Summary
San Diego Community Power approved four rooftop power purchase agreements and a separate landfill/retail-site PPA with developer Lumenia, adding local solar capacity and committing community benefits including prevailing wage and local hiring goals.
The San Diego Community Power board approved long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with local developer Lumenia during its Jan. 23 meeting, authorizing four rooftop commercial PPAs as a portfolio and a separate retail-site PPA under the agency’s Solar Advantage program.
Morgan Adams, senior development manager for Community Power’s power services team, presented the two items. The rooftop portfolio comprises four commercial rooftop projects ranging from roughly 500 kilowatts to about 1.5 megawatts sited across the region, including two sites in Chula Vista, one near Rancho Bernardo in the City of San Diego, and one near the border at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility. Each rooftop PPA has a 20-year term and a guaranteed commercial operation date of March 31, 2027, and the portfolio is governed by a framework agreement that would allow substitution of sites during 2025 if a site becomes infeasible.
A separate PPA covers a 1.7-megawatt project at a retail center in Chula Vista. That project is proposed as the first contracted under Community Power’s Solar Advantage offering, which participates in the California Public Utilities Commission’s Disadvantaged Communities Green Tariff (DAC‑GT). Staff said the DAC‑GT funding helps offset above‑market procurement costs and provides a 20% bill discount to qualifying low‑income customers who will be auto‑enrolled when the project is operational.
Adams told the board the deals provide energy and renewable attributes for a fixed 20‑year term and include contractual remedies if a developer misses milestones such as the guaranteed commercial operation date. Staff also highlighted workforce and community benefits: the rooftop portfolio and the retail‑site contract together are expected to generate multi‑million‑dollar lease payments to property owners, more than $1 million–$2 million in local construction wages across the contracts, and commitments from the developer to hire local apprentices and pay prevailing wages during construction.
Board members praised the local economic and workforce provisions. One director asked about the projects’ economic benefits; Adams said PPAs provide long‑term cost certainty for the agency and an assured revenue stream developers need to finance and build the projects.
The board approved the rooftop PPAs and portfolio framework (four PPAs plus the framework agreement) and separately approved the Chula Vista retail-site PPA. Both actions passed by roll call with all present directors voting yes.
