New Green Option (Community Solar) FAQ

In response to customer enrollment under the GTSR program, PG&E will contract for energy from new small-to-mid-sized solar photovoltaic projects located within its service area.

During the 24 to 30 months that solar projects typically take to develop, PG&E will serve participants with solar power from recently developed and operating projects that meet the same criteria.

Under ECR, customers will work directly with developers to identify and develop solar projects within their own communities. Projects that meet the ECR criteria such as demonstrated community interest and size are eligible for long-term contracts with PG&E.

In the past, most utility "green energy" programs were based on "renewable energy certificates" rather than new projects based in the utility's service area. In contrast, this program represents a new class of green power programs, often called "community solar." Still, these programs come in various shapes and sizes, and there aren't very many comparable programs to which PG&E's offering can be contrasted. Some are priced higher, and some are priced lower. As a result of Senate Bill 43 (SB43), San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison will be implementing similar programs along the same timeframe.

Besides closely tracked and reported program administrative and marketing costs, there are a variety of CPUC-mandated charges to prevent the shifting of shared system costs from customers who participate in the program to non-participating customers. These include:

• Charges associated with integrating new renewables with the grid (Renewables Integration Charge)
• State-level grid management charges (California Independent System Operator charges)
• Charges for registering, tracking and retiring renewable energy certificates (Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System charges)
• Departing-load charges for switching from the standard energy mix (Power Charge Indifference Adjustment charges)
• Resource adequacy charges (RA)
• A credit for the positive value that solar provides in delivering energy to the grid during peak hours (Solar Value Adjustment)

PG&E is indifferent from a revenue and earnings perspective to this program – it does not make money from the customer charges on this program.

At this time, renewable energy costs more to generate. However, it's important to note that since the customer is credited with the generation costs that PG&E avoids, the customer's net participation price is expected to diminish over time.

Nothing. All costs will be borne only by customers who volunteer to enroll in the program.

PG&E's bundled customers by definition purchase their energy through PG&E, and therefore are eligible to participate in PG&E resource mix options, such as these.

PG&E will not sign contracts for existing projects under this program, PG&E will procure additional solar energy from new projects sized 20 MWs or below within its service area using a number of different procurement tools. If you are in a position to develop a new project that can provide solar electricity at a competitive price, then you may be eligible to participate as a supplier under this program. For more information, please see pge.com/greenoption, which will be updated as more information becomes available.

PG&E received a decision from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on January 29, 2015. We anticipate the program will launch sometime in late 2015, pending the resolution of additional regulatory filings.

Yes. This program will be authorized to serve up to 272 MW of subscriber load, which represents PG&E's portion of the statewide 600 MW program cap established by Senate Bill 43. Of our 272 MW cap, a minimum of 50% will be reserved for residential customers. We would expect to reach the cap at an enrollment of about 50,000 residential and business customers. The program will be open to new enrollees through 2018. PG&E may seek to expand and/or extend this program through a filing with the CPUC.

This program is separate from and incremental to PG&E's Renewables Portfolio Standards (RPS) requirements. However, there are two ways in which this program and the RPS portfolio interact. First, when customers enroll in the GTSR program, the power needed to satisfy their energy requirements will initially be supplied from solar projects within PG&E's existing renewables portfolio, but not counted toward RPS requirements. These projects will be similar to those under the GTSR program and will serve customers until program-specific solar projects are available to meet their energy needs. Second, if customers drop off the program after PG&E has procured new supplies on their behalf, the surplus resources will be provided to PG&E’s regular bundled customers and will count toward the RPS.

No. PG&E is responding to the stated desire of many customers for more renewable energy options. PG&E is offering the Community Solar program to all bundled electricity customers throughout its service area, regardless of whether they also have the option to buy electricity from CCAs.