Community renewable programs FAQ

PG&E's Solar Choice and Regional Renewable Choice programs are a result of Senate Bill 43, which was signed into law on September 28, 2013 by Governor Jerry Brown. The bill enacted the Green Tariff Shared Renewables (GTSR) program, a 600-megawatt statewide program that allows participating utilities' customers— including local governments, businesses, schools, homeowners, municipal customers and renters—to meet up to 100 percent of their energy usage with generation from eligible renewable energy resources.

Approximately half of U.S. households and businesses are unable to install rooftop solar due to space, lack of sun exposure or ownership limitations. The goal of the Green Tariff Shared Renewables program is to overcome those obstacles.

We offer two structures within the Green Tariff Shared Renewables program:

• PG&E's Solar Choice
• Regional Renewable Choice

PG&E's Solar Choice is PG&E’s name for the statewide Green Tariff initiative. Regional Renewable Choice is PG&E’s name for the statewide Enhanced Community Renewables initiative.

If you purchase your electricity from PG&E, you’re eligible to participate in PG&E's Solar Choice and Regional Renewable Choice programs. Participation per Service Agreement is limited to the equivalent of 2MW of solar resources or approximately 4,730,400 kWh annually. This limitation does not apply to a federal, state or local government, school or school district, county office of education, the California Community College, the California State University or the University of California.

Following are the only exceptions to eligibility:

• If you receive your electricity service from a Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) or if you are a Direct Access customer.
• If you take service on Transitional Bundled Service (TBS), Schedule S, or if you are on a net energy metering (NEM) schedule. To find out if you're on TBS, Schedule S or NEM, see your PG&E energy statement or sign in to Your Account.
• If you're on non-metered service.

Find all eligibility requirements in our Solar Choice tariff sheet and Regional Renewable Choice tariff sheet.

PG&E’s Solar Choice Program

PG&E’s Solar Choice program is currently on hold for residential enrollment pending California Public Utility Commission action on PG&E’s Emergency Petition for Modification (PFM). Residential customers attempting to enroll will be placed on a waitlist for future enrollment.

The program offers solar energy to participating customers upon sign-up. Customers are placed in the program on the first day of their next billing cycle after enrollment. If you sign up within five business days of your next billing cycle start date, your enrollment may be delayed until the next billing cycle.

Non-residential enrollment is currently at capacity; however, customers are being waitlisted and will be enrolled if and when capacity becomes available.

Regional Renewable Choice Program

Active solar developers in the Regional Renewable Choice program will market projects directly to customers upon PG&E and Green-e approval of marketing materials. Customers will be able to enroll directly through the developer and will begin receiving program credits on their monthly energy statement when the renewable project is complete and online.

PG&E's Solar Choice Program

You may enroll 50 percent or 100 percent of your monthly electricity usage under PG&E's Solar Choice program. You may elect to change your enrollment level once in a 12 month period (e.g., changing from 50% to 100% and vice versa). If the program is fully subscribed, existing customers may only reduce their enrollment level (e.g., down from 100% to 50%).

Regional Renewable Choice Program

You may subscribe to renewable energy from a single project within PG&E's service area. These projects must be powered by renewable resources including but not limited to solar, wind or biomass. Customers contract directly with developers for an amount of renewable energy between 25% and 100% of total energy use.

PG&E's Solar Choice Program

When you enroll in PG&E's Solar Choice program, you remain on your existing electric rate schedule. Participation may result in either a bill premium or discount depending on a customer's rate schedule and PCIA vintage. The Solar Choice charges and credits will be listed as separate line items on your monthly PG&E bill.

To estimate your additional monthly cost for participating in the program, use PG&E's Solar Choice Rate Calculator.

Regional Renewable Choice Program

You're free to design your own customer-developer agreement regarding renewable energy pricing and terms directly with a Regional Renewable Choice developer. Once projects are live, you'll receive a Regional Renewable Choice credit (currently ranging from about 5 to 7 cents per kilowatt-hour) on your PG&E monthly energy statement for the kilowatt-hours output associated with their subscription every month. You will remain on your regular PG&E rate plan. The Regional Renewable Choice credit will not reflect the charges between the renewable developer and customer. Therefore, you will be invoiced separately by the developer.

PG&E's Solar Choice Program

No, you may leave PG&E's Solar Choice program at any time without any penalties or fees. However, you lose eligibility to re-enroll for one year following your unenrollment. Customers who are defaulted to Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) generation service are exempt from this one-year wait requirement if they elect to receive PG&E's generation service within 60 days of their default to CCA generation service.

Regional Renewable Choice Program

You're free to design your own customer-developer agreement and terms with a Regional Renewable Choice developer.

Enrollment to either program is tied to your electric service agreement ID (SA ID). Customers are only allowed to sign up for one program per SA ID. Find your SA ID(s) on your PG&E bill or when you sign in to Your Account.

Yes, if you move within our service territory, you can continue participating in either program. If you are planning to move and want to remain on Solar Choice or Regional Renewable Choice, we recommend calling our Contact Center at 1-877-743-8429 to ensure your service is properly switched over.

Yes. The programs will remain open for enrollment until subscriptions reach 272 megawatts for PG&E's Solar Choice and Regional Renewable Choice combined. Participation in Solar Choice is on hold for residential customers pending California Public Utility Commission action on PG&E’s Emergency Petition for Modification (PFM). Residential customers attempting to enroll will be placed on a waitlist for future enrollment. In addition, non-residential participation has reached capacity. Additional requests for participation for both residential and non-residential customers are being waitlisted. Waitlisted non-residential customers will be enrolled if and when capacity becomes available, whereas participation as residential customers will be revisited when the CPUC makes a decision on PG&E’s PFM.

You're allowed to remain on the programs for up to 20 years after enrollment.

If you enroll in PG&E's Solar Choice Program, we’ll provide marketing materials to help communicate your participation in the program. You'll receive a welcome kit in the mail. You can also email us at solarchoice@pge.com to receive digital collateral such as social media badges to share your participation with others.

Green-e Energy is North America's leading voluntary certification program for renewable energy. Since 1997, Green-e Energy has certified renewable energy that meets environmental and consumer protection standards. Those standards were developed in conjunction with leading environmental, energy and policy organizations. Green-e Energy requires that sellers of certified renewable energy disclose clear and useful information to potential customers, allowing consumers to make informed choices. Learn more at Green-e Energy.

In a community renewables program, you're purchasing solar or other renewable energy for your home and/or business. While PG&E can't deliver "green" electrons to a specific home or business, we purchase the same amount of renewable energy that you use monthly on your behalf. These amounts are above and beyond what PG&E would otherwise have put on the grid, and are allocated accordingly to the subscribing customers. We also make sure that this renewable energy gets attributed to you by retiring Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) on your behalf on an annual basis.

An REC represents the environmental benefits of 1 megawatt hour (MWh) of renewable energy. For every unit of renewable electricity generated, an equivalent amount of RECs is produced. By purchasing and pairing RECs with your electricity service, you are using and receiving the benefits of that renewable electricity. Your REC purchase also helps build a market for renewable electricity. Increased demand for and generation of renewable electricity helps reduce conventional electricity generation in the region where the renewable electricity generator is located. It also has other local and global environmental benefits, which may include emitting little or no regional air pollution or carbon dioxide. The RECs in Solar Choice and Regional Renewable Choice are verified and certified by Green-e Energy, and PG&E is required to disclose the quantity, type and geographic source of each certificate. Download the Solar Choice Product Content Label (PDF, 155 KB) for this information. Green-e Energy also verifies that the renewable energy certificates are not sold more than once or claimed by more than one party. Learn more at Green-e Energy.

The solar electricity you purchase through the Community Renewables program is delivered to the grid, allowing you to receive reliable electricity both day and night. The renewable energy you buy is attributed to you through Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), and those credits are retired by PG&E on your behalf on an annual basis.

YES! Under both the Solar Choice and the Regional Renewable Choice programs, PG&E has procured new, additional solar resources that are separate from and incremental to any mandates we have to fulfill under California's Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS). Therefore, customers' participation supports newly developed renewable clean energy on the electric grid.

• Solar Choice Program:
  • There are currently eight dedicated solar projects that PG&E procured on behalf of the Solar Choice Program that were not procured to satisfy PG&E's RPS requirements. Learn more about these resources on our Energy Sources map.
• Regional Renewable Choice Program:
  • There is currently one dedicated solar project PG&E has procured under the Regional Renewable Choice program. Learn more about available renewable projects.

For many customers, rooftop solar is a good option. However, almost half of residential and commercial rooftops are unsuitable for solar because of structural, shading or ownership issues. These programs give residential and business customers an easy way to participate in solar without installing or maintaining solar panels.

If you're in a position to develop a new project sized between 0.5MW and 20MW that can provide solar electricity at a competitive price, you may be eligible to participate as a supplier in this program. Visit Solar Choice Developer or Regional Renewable Choice Developer or email us at solarchoice@pge.com for further details.

If you are a customer who has solar on their roof, learn more about your options at PG&E's Net Energy Metering.