2011 Solar Photovoltaic Program

PG&E’s goal with the Photovoltaic Power Purchase Agreement Request for Offers (PV PPA RFO) is to procure, over a five (5) year period, 250 MW, expressed in units of alternating current (AC) of PV Products as authorized by CPUC Decision (D.10-04-052) (PDF, 257 KB) adopted on April 22, 2010. PG&E filed Advice Letter 3674-E on May 24, 2010, which was approved December 16, 2010 by Resolution E-4368 (DOC, 191 KB).

On February 2, 2011, PG&E issued the 2011 Solar Photovoltaic Program Power Purchase Agreement RFO. The goal of this first round of the RFO is to procure 50 MW. PG&E is seeking to execute agreements with a 20 year term from PV facilities that are 1 to 20 MW in size. These must be new PV facilities located in PG&E’s service territory and interconnected to PG&E’s electric system.

PG&E has developed an interactive, Google-based map of its service territory. The map is a tool to help renewable energy developers identify potential project sites, but it is not a guarantee that generators can interconnect at any particular time and place.

PG&E hosted a Bidders' Conference on February 8, 2011 from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. PPT. The presentation materials for the general RFO overview morning session (PPT, 5.7 MB), afternoon interconnection session (PPT, 980 KB), presentation audio file (MP3, 164.2 MB), attendee list (XLS, 82 KB) and Bidders' Conference Q&A (DOC, 79 KB) are available here.

On February 16, 2011, PG&E hosted an internet-based presentation on the details of the transmission and distribution interconnection processes that was previously planned for the afternoon session of the February 8th Bidders' Conference. An audio file of the WebEx presentation (MP3, 31.2 MB) is available here. Due to technical difficulties, only a portion of the audio is available.

On September 22, 2011, PG&E hosted a Bidders’ Forum for participants that submitted offers into the 2011 RFO. The purpose of the Forum was to discuss the results of the RFO feedback survey, lessons learned, and possible modifications to the RFO for the 2012 solicitation. The Forum Q&A (DOC, 35 KB) is available here.

Any application for interconnection to PG&E's distribution system must be directed to PG&E’s Generation Interconnection Services at gen@pge.com. Participants may also contact the Generation Interconnection Project Manager, William Chung at 415-973-1350 or by email MWCb@pge.com.

PG&E expects that it may be difficult for projects to meet the interconnection milestones in this first round of the PV Program PPA RFO if those projects have not already submitted an interconnection application. PG&E will address this issue at the upcoming Bidders’ Conference, and encourages prospective Participants to attend the Bidders' Conference to gain an understanding of both the RFO and interconnection application processes and to increase the likelihood of successful participation in future rounds of the PV Program PPA RFO and other upcoming RFOs.

The Generation Interconnections Services group maintains a website where interconnection information can be found.

The Solar PV RFO Program Protocol document (DOC, 176 KB) and all of the appendices are finalized. Use the current versions of the documents when submitting an offer.

• Appendix A - Offer Sheet (XLS, 155 KB)
• Appendix B1 - Small PV PPA (DOC, 333 KB) Projects 1 MW or greater and less than 3MW
• Appendix B2 - Large PV PPA (DOC, 762 KB) Projects 3 MW or greater and 20 MW or less
• Appendix C - Site Control Questionnaire and Attestation (DOC, 35 KB)
• Appendix D - Demonstration of Interconnection Application Submission (DOC, 29 KB)
• Appendix E - Acknowledgement and Commitment of Site Owner (DOC, 34 KB)
• Appendix F - Supplier Diversity Questionnaire (DOC, 42 KB)

General Questions

• May 7, 2010 (DOC, 28 KB)
• January 7, 2011 (DOC, 22 KB)
• January 28, 2011 (DOC, 24 KB)

PG&E has developed confidentiality protocols to ensure that information given by Participants to PG&E through the interconnection or RFO process is not shared with PG&E's staff working on utility-owned PV Program generation. PG&E has developed a Code of Conduct (DOC, 29 KB) to implement these confidentiality protocols.

For information or questions about PG&E's Solar PV PPA Program RFO email to PVProgram@pge.com.

For information or questions about PG&E's Solar PV UOG Program RFO email to UOG_PVProgram@pge.com.