CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
CPUC Revises Self-Generation Program Requirements to Strengthen Community Resiliency

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today (Oct 22) strengthened community resiliency throughout California by revising its Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) to increase focus on supporting energy storage for low income customers and communities, medically vulnerable customers, and facilities that provide critical services.

The CPUC approved $108.5 million in additional funding for the SGIP "Equity Budget." This funding provides incentives for customers who install energy storage systems and who are low-income residents or local governments, schools, nonprofits, or small business customers located in disadvantaged or low income communities, or in Indian Country.

After the CPUC authorized increased incentive amounts for the Equity Budget in late 2019, customer demand for the program greatly increased. All authorized funding was quickly allocated and waiting lists were created.

Today's Decision does not increase the absolute amount of funding for SGIP, but transfers funds to the Equity Budget from the funding set aside for General Largescale Storage projects, i.e., non-residential storage systems installed by customers that are not low-income or located in disadvantaged or low-income communities. After the transfer of funds, the General Largescale Storage budget will still have funding available for future projects.

CPUC Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen said, "Today's Decision will allow shovel-ready projects to proceed and help stimulate the state's economy. It also directs more of the SGIP funding to low-income customers and communities to ensure that these communities receive the clean energy and cost-saving benefits that energy storage can provide."

The proposal voted on (R.12-11-005) is available at https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M348/K892/348892406.PDF.

In addition, today (Oct 22) the CPUC revised and clarified several eligibility requirements adopted previously in Decision 20-01-021 for the SGIP Equity Resiliency Budget, which targets certain customers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 high fire threat districts and customers affected by at least two utility Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events. Customers relying on electric well pumps for their water supply are eligible for the Equity Resiliency Budget, but demand for the program from these customers in particular has been much higher than expected. To ensure that the limited available funding is directed to customers with the greatest need (including medically vulnerable residents and critical facilities), today's Decision requires equity resiliency budget electric well customers to demonstrate a household income earning less than 80 percent of the area's median income or that the multi-family building is located in a disadvantaged community where at least 80 percent of the building's households earn less than 60 percent of the area's median income. Additionally, the Decision requires electric well applicants to provide documentation that the storage installation site is a primary residence and that the residence is not serviced by a municipal or private water utility.

The proposal voted on (R.20-05-012) is available at https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M348/K903/348903537.PDF.

The SGIP was established in 2001 to increase deployment of distributed generation and energy storage systems to facilitate the integration of those resources into the electrical grid, improve efficiency and reliability of the distribution and transmission system, and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, peak demand, and ratepayer costs.

To find out more about the SGIP, please visit www.cpuc.ca.gov/sgip or www.cpuc.ca.gov/sgipinfo.

The CPUC regulates services and utilities, protects consumers, safeguards the environment, and assures Californians' access to safe and reliable utility infrastructure and services. For more information on the CPUC, please visit www.cpuc.ca.gov.