Community Power is committed to providing renewable, affordable energy for everyone—built locally whenever possible.
Community Power prioritizes local investment. We have a goal of 1 gigawatt (GW) of local renewable and clean energy capacity — meaning that renewable projects will be sited in or near the San Diego region. To achieve that goal, our team contracts with local wholesale energy providers; supports the development of community-scale renewable energy projects in our communities; and offers customer programs, rebates and incentives that allow our customers to contribute to a more resilient grid and support local clean energy generation.
To view the local projects powering the communities we serve, visit our Renewable Energy Projects page.
Community Power purchases energy from utility-scale renewable energy projects. We prioritize projects in or near the San Diego region that will result in lower transmission and delivery costs, as well as support local job creation.
Community Power does not develop or own these projects ourselves. We simply purchase the renewable energy that these projects generate on behalf of our customers.
Community-scale renewable energy projects, including small-scale solar and other renewable energy and energy storage projects located within the San Diego region, are also critical to Community Power’s local development goals.
Local developers interested in helping Community Power expand renewable energy access through local, small-scale solar and battery projects can view our local power solicitations:
The Solar Advantage program, also known as the Disadvantaged Communities Green Tariff or DAC-GT, supports the development of local, community-scale solar and battery projects in disadvantaged communities.
The Feed-In Tariff program allows local property owners with qualifying renewable energy systems to sell the energy that their systems generate to Community Power.
The Local Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Request for Information (Local RFI) allows Community Power to partner with developers on new and existing, wholesale renewable energy and energy storage projects in San Diego and Imperial Counties.
Local development doesn’t just mean renewable energy projects — Community Power’s local development efforts are also supported by the programs, rebates and incentives that we offer to our customers.
Many of our customer programs support our are designed to shift energy consumption away from periods of high demand, contributing to a more resilient energy grid. It also reduces the amount of energy that needs to be purchased in order to power our local communities, reducing costs for Community Power and our customers.
One of the ways that we are working to achieve this is by building a Virtual Power Plant, or VPP. A VPP is a collection of devices such as EV chargers, smart thermostats, and solar and battery storage systems that are aggregated onto a cloud-based network that allows them to shift energy consumption. The devices, sometimes referred to as Distributed Energy Resources, are connected to a distribution system. The system is typically behind an electric meter, but is centrally controlled to benefit the larger energy grid.
During a period of high energy demand, Community Power can leverage these resources to reduce consumption — for example, shifting the temperature on a smart thermostat to pre-cool a home before peak energy demand hours, or staggering when EVs start and stop charging at night to avoid hundreds of vehicles charging at the same time and increasing overnight energy demand.
And through our Solar Battery Savings program, we’re able to not only increase access to solar and battery storage, but also leverage the network of batteries enrolled in the program to reduce demand from the grid and the cost of providing energy during periods of high demand. Enrolled batteries store the excess energy that solar panels produce during the day, then dispatch that energy — either to the home or back to the grid — during these periods of high demand. Using this stored energy offsets the amount of energy needed from the grid, enabling our Solar Battery Savings participants to power their homes and communities with clean, locally generated energy. To learn more about the program, visit our Solar Battery Savings page.
We also provide our customers with resources that can help them practice energy efficiency, whether that’s through simple energy saving tips, or at-home electric upgrades.
Thinking about installing solar at your home?
Our Community Advisory Committee includes two representatives from each of the communities, ensuring every community’s voice is heard.
Are you a developer interested in working with Community Power?