The CPUC voted on Thursday to reopen, albeit briefly, the eligibility window for local governments to secure 10 years of time-of-use (TOU) 1.0 grandfathering for solar projects. TOU 1.0 rates are much more “solar-friendly” than the TOU 2.0 rates that are currently being planned by the major utilities: SCE, SDG&E, and PG&E.
To secure the 10 years of grandfathering, a local government has to submit an interconnection application to the utility by December 25th. Due to the tight timeline, SPURR, an energy JPA of 240+ public agencies, is working on behalf of public agencies across the state to submit interconnection applications without cost or obligation. Note that submitting an interconnection application is not a commitment to go solar, but it ensures that you have access to solar-friendly TOU 1.0 rates if you do indeed decide to pursue a project.
To be clear, these TOU 1.0 rates will significantly boost the savings realized from a solar project. Also, there is no deadline to complete the construction of the project to qualify for the TOU 1.0 grandfathering. This means that even if your local government is considering a project off in the future you may want to submit an application just to secure the grandfathering status.
For more information please contact Kevin Flanagan at solar@spurr.org or (559) 760-8982.
You can find a previous posting about SPURR and the Renewable Energy Aggregated Procurement program here.