Community renewable programs

PG&E's Solar Choice program is 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.

If you purchase your electricity from PG&E, you're eligible to participate in PG&E's Solar Choice program.

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.
• 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, or a county office of education.

Find all eligibility requirements in our Solar Choice tariff sheet (PDF).

Residential and Non-Residential enrollment in Solar Choice is on hold per California Public Utility Commission directive in Decision 21-12-036. All customers attempting to enroll will be placed on a waitlist for future enrollment if capacity becomes available.

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%).

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.

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.

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

You're allowed to remain on the program 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.

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.

A 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 are verified to ensure they are not sold more than once or claimed by more than one party.

The solar electricity you purchase through the Solar Choice 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 the Solar Choice program, PG&E procures 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.

• 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.

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. This program gives residential and business customers an easy way to participate in solar without installing or maintaining solar panels.

The Commission issued D. 24-05-065 on May, 30 2024 that does a few important things for community renewables:

Improves Solar Choice

1. Creates a simpler rate & billing structure for Solar Choice and allows PG&E more flexibility to procure renewable resources for the program.
2. This will ensure customers can enroll in and benefit from the Solar Choice program soon. More details about when customers can enroll in Solar Choice will be announced in 2025.

Creates a New Community Renewable Energy Program

1. The new community renewable energy program will be based on a subscription model. At least 51% of subscribers must be low-income and eligible customers will receive a bill discount.
2. We will know more details about the new community renewable energy program after a second Decision is issued in A.22-05-022. This is expected by the end of 2024.

You can learn more about community solar in California at this CPUC website.