FAQs

As a locally-run not-for-profit, San Diego Community Power (SDCP) is powering a cleaner energy for today and as a legacy for future generations.

SDCP is a Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) committed to providing clean, renewable electricity choices at competitive rates and investing in innovative programs that benefit residents, businesses, the environment and the economy in our communities.

When customers enroll with SDCP, they help empower local control of electricity procurement decisions, reduce the carbon footprint associated with their electricity service, and help support the growth of local renewable projects. Rather than providing profits to investors, SDCP’s net revenue (after buying power and administrative expenses) can be used to help stabilize electricity prices, provide incentives for solar installations, support energy efficiency programs, and develop more local renewable energy sources in and near San Diego County. This will keep the electricity rates competitive and enable SDCP to invest in innovative, clean technologies and energy-related job training.

Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) were enabled by the California Legislature in the midst of the energy crisis. They are designed to be part of the solution by allowing local communities to take control of the energy they buy and to address constraints on competition that contributed to the crisis.

Transparent, locally-controlled CCAs make energy markets less risky and protect taxpayers.  CCAs are succeeding all over the state with 25 programs already providing reliable, affordable and clean energy to local customers and delivering innovative reinvestment programs that benefit local needs and state Climate Action Goals.

1. San Diego Community Power sources clean electricity from a wide range of renewable sources at competitive rates.
2. SDG&E delivers that electricity via the existing infrastructure and sends you a single consolidated bill.
3. All revenue from energy procurement is reinvested back into local renewable energy development, local job training and support programs for Communities of Concern.

San Diego Community Power enrolled customers in phases within the cities of Chula Vista, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, and San Diego in 2021 and 2022 based on customer class and territory to ensure a smooth transition. Customers within the jurisdictions of National City and Unincorporated San Diego County will be enrolled in April 2023, and NEM customers within those areas will be enrolled based on their true up date with SDG&E from April 2023 through March 2024.

San Diego Community Power offers many key benefits:

• Customer-Driven Choice: CCAs were created to advocate for ratepayers by providing choice for the first time and shifting control of local energy decisions from profit-driven, investor-owned utilities into the hands of residents and businesses. Competition supports lower rates, increased transparency and a better overall customer experience.
• Future-Focused: SDCP will offer tiered programs that provide cleaner energy for competitive rates, helping reach climate action goals and support healthier communities today and for the future.
• Proven Path to Saving Money and Our Environment: There are currently 25 successful CCAs operating in over 200 communities around California. As the second largest in the state, SDCP will provide the same reliable, affordable energy service as other CCAs from cleaner, sustainable sources.
• Local Management, Investment and Jobs: As a locally controlled not-for-profit energy provider, SDCP will never be taxpayer funded and will support economic vitality by providing cleaner energy at competitive rates and funding local renewable energy projects. Clean energy employs more than half a million people in California; that’s five times more workers than all fossil fuel industries combined.

San Diego Community Power rates will be competitive with SDG&E’s for cleaner energy, offering you the opportunity to save money and the environment.

Yes. All CCAs are required to meet the same reliability standards as investor-owned utilities such as SDG&E.

At its initial launch, SDCP will offer two (2) clean energy services that customers can choose from. The default energy service, PowerOn, is at least 50% renewable, but customers also have the option to opt up to our 100% renewable, 100% carbon-free service level, Power100. Both service levels offer a cleaner energy content than SDG&E and are competitively priced. 

No, SDCP does not engage in telemarketing or door-to-door solicitations and we will not approach our customers at their home. Do not give any personal information (e.g., SDG&E account number, credit card information, social security number, etc.) to individuals who come to your door falsely representing SDCP. If someone calls or reaches out to you claiming to be associated with SDCP and requests payment for current electricity service or threatens to disconnect your power as a result of nonpayment, please report it to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

State law prevents investor-owned utilities like SDG&E from profiting on retail electric generation, so the benefits of cleaner and competitively-priced power from SDCP comes at no cost to SDG&E or local jobs. In fact, SDG&E will continue to maintain the grid, repair power lines, and provide our shared customers one consolidated utility bill with SDCP electric generation charges and SDG&E electric delivery charges.  The only change customers will see is new options for cleaner energy at competitive rates.

Yes. SDG&E will continue to provide the same level of service to San Diego Community Power customers as they provide to all their customers. SDG&E is responsible for maintaining transmission and distribution lines that deliver the energy we purchase. Please call SDG&E if you’re experiencing a power outage to restore power: 1-800-411-7343.

No. You will continue to receive just one bill from SDG&E. San Diego Community Power’s charges for electricity generation are included as a line item on your utility bill. SDG&E will continue to charge for the transmission and delivery of electricity, along with a variety of other regulatory and program charges at the same rates they always have. There are no duplicate charges for electricity generation.

The process is mandated by state law, but as a consumer-choice-driven organization, you always have a choice who you decide to work with for electricity generation. While we believe the combination of competitive rates and cleaner energy is the best choice for healthy communities, you can opt-out of SDCP service at any time by calling 1-888-382-0169 or emailing customerservice@sdcommunitypower.org or visting our website. 

San Diego Community Power will buy a higher percentage of electricity generated from renewable sources on the open market. Over time, SDCP will also invest in and build local renewable energy projects, as other more established CCA programs are now doing.

Companies that generate electricity are required by state law to identify their resources and file a detailed report on the content of their generated power. SDCP is also required to submit this information to state regulators to ensure compliance with the law. These reporting requirements allow us to be sure that our power procurement strategy supports clean and renewable energy. Moving forward, SDCP plans to procure steadily increasing amounts of renewable energy, including locally-generated power that develops our economy and provides jobs in our communities.

San Diego Community Power gets its electricity from suppliers that have gone through a rigorous qualification and selection process. These suppliers, much like SDG&E, get their electricity from a variety of generation sources. At a minimum, our default PowerOn option will include 50% renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydroelectricity. Our optional Power100 provides electricity from 100% renewable sources such as wind and solar.

San Diego Community Power has purchased enough energy to ensure reliability and we are currently in a long-term process to build more renewable capacity. Over the next few years, San Diego Community Power will build a portfolio of diverse renewable energy sources and energy storage that will put us on a path toward powering all of our customers’ homes and businesses with carbon-free energy all day, every day. As a fiscally responsible organization without guaranteed cost recovery, we strive to provide our customers clean energy choices at competitive rates while prioritizing financial sustainability.

PowerOn is our base-level electricity service offering a minimum of 50% renewable and 5% greenhouse gas free energy. All customers will automatically be enrolled in PowerOn at launch. All customers will automatically be enrolled in PowerOn at launch, with the option of opting out and returning to SDG&E service or opting up to our Power100 option.

Please note that in order to meet their clean energy goals, the City of Encinitas has voted to automatically enroll their customers into Power100 service; if your home or business is within the City of Encinitas, you will be automatically enrolled in our 100% renewable service level, Power100, but you always have the choice to opt down to PowerOn.

Power100 is our optional premium service offering that provides 100% renewable energy at a slight premium. For only $0.0075 per kWh more than our PowerOn service, you can reduce your carbon footprint for only a couple extra dollars month!

As a Power100 customer, the energy that will flow to your home is not necessarily the energy that a particular solar or wind farm produced specifically for you, but is likely energy from multiple sources. When you opt up to Power100 service, we are required to purchase the amount of energy you use from 100% renewable sources on your behalf. To the extent that customers choose SDCP’s 100% renewable option, the renewable content of SDCP’s aggregate supply portfolio will further increase.

The $0.0075 per kWh charged for Power100 service reflects SDCP’s cost for procuring the related energy supplies and contributes to the growth and development of local renewable generating projects. By opting up to Power100, customers are contributing to 100% renewable energy advancement while helping to spur the development of renewable sources to help us achieve our goal of entirely clean and renewable electricity by 2035 or sooner.

Also known as clean energy, carbon-free energy creates no greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and comes from sources such as hydroelectric power. Renewable energy comes from resources that are naturally replenished and produce no waste, such as solar, wind, and geothermal. Unlike fossil fuels, such as oil, natural gas, and coal, which cannot be replaced (and produce GHG emissions), renewable energy regenerates naturally in a short period of time.

Resources such as wind, solar and geothermal, which do not produce greenhouse gases and naturally regenerate, are considered clean and renewable, while resources such as large hydroelectric and nuclear are considered carbon-free sources. SDCP currently supports clean energy from sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, large-hydro, and biomass.

• Power100 has an emissions factor of zero.
• PowerOn is expected to have an emissions factor of approximately 0.192 MT CO2e/MWh or ~424 lb CO2e/MWh. This will be finalized in early-to-mid 2022 pursuant the California Energy Commission’s Power Source Disclosure program.

We do retire RECs on behalf of our Power100 customers. Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) compliance reporting is completed on or before July 1 each year for the previous calendar year. We will make the report available on the Key Documents page of our website when completed.

While it may make sense for SDCP customers to participate in carbon offset programs like Arcadia Power to offset their transportation-related emissions, this voluntary service is not needed to cover home or business-related electricity use emissions. SDCP’s premium Power100 service is already carbon free! Participating in Arcadia Power’s program, for example, would then be duplicative and also more expensive than participating in SDCP alone. Furthermore, SDCP’s 100% renewable service, Power100, is cheaper than any other 100% renewable option for our San Diego County customers at an additional $0.0075 per kWh.

San Diego Community Power was formed in response to our community’s desire for local control of our electric energy supply as well as the want for a different model of decision making. One that puts the communities in charge and is not being driven by shareholders without the community’s interests in mind. Local residents and businesses wanted competitive rates, from cleaner sources, and new customer programs.

As a locally-run not-for-profit, SDCP is essentially run by the residents and businesses of the cities of Chula Vista, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa and San Diego. All key decisions are made by the Board of Directors, who are local elected leaders accountable to their constituents, at open meetings. Leadership of day-to-day operations is managed by Chief Executive Officer, Karin Burns, a veteran clean energy executive and environmental advocate.

In September 2019, the cities of Chula Vista, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa and San Diego adopted an ordinance and resolution to form San Diego Community Power, a California joint powers agency. In 2023, National City and the Unincorporated County of San Diego also began enrolling customers into SDCP service.

SDCP’s Board is comprised of elected representatives from each member’s jurisdiction which may expand as new communities in the surrounding area decide whether to join SDCP in the future. The Board is publicly accountable to SDCP ratepayers and hosts monthly Board meetings to establish policy, set rates, determine power options and maintain fiscal oversight.  As a public agency, SDCP is designed to be fully transparent with all meetings and information open to the public.

Members of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) were selected by the San Diego Community Power Board of Directors following an application process. The CAC provides a venue for ongoing citizen support and engagement in the strategic direction, goals, and programs of SDCP. A list of CAC members is available here.

San Diego Community Power is a self-sustaining organization financed exclusively by the payments received from our customers based on the electricity they consume. SDCP does not receive tax dollars and is bound to reinvest excess net revenue in keeping rates stable, investing in local programs, and building reserves.

SDCP will provide much of its electricity from renewable sources such as solar, wind and small hydroelectricity—which do not pollute or produce greenhouse gases. Switching from conventional energy sources to renewable energy is the single most effective way to accomplish our communities’ climate action goals.

Yes, SDCP has a goal to reach 100% renewable energy by 2035, or sooner, for all our member cities.

No, SDCP will not use unbundled renewable energy certificates. In fact, on a statewide basis unbundled renewable energy certificates make up just one percent of CCA load and most CCAs do not use any of them.

Cities and counties throughout California are already moving forward with similar programs. There are currently 25 operational Community Choice Aggregator programs (CCAs) in California, and that number is estimated to grow, with a combined service area population of over 200 communities. For a full list of California CCAs, please visit CalCCA.

All residents and business located in the cities of Chula Vista, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, National City, San Diego, and the Unincorporated County of San Diego are included in SDCP’s service area. For those not currently in the service area, the service territory may expand accordingly. If you’d like to your city to consider Community Choice in the future, please contact your City representative.

All customers scheduled to enroll in SDCP service will receive a minimum of four notices by mail advising them of their enrollment in San Diego Community Power before anything changes. Municipal and Commercial accounts in the cities of Chula Vista, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, and San Diego were enrolled in 2021, and the residential accounts in these territories later enrolled in 2022. All accounts in National City and the Unincorporated County of San Diego will be enrolled in April 2023, with NEM accounts in these areas enrolling at the time of their annual true up through March 2024.

San Diego Community Power provides electricity generation, while SDG&E owns and maintains the distribution system (“the grid”), which includes meters. SDCP does not have any control over whether or not our customers receive or require Smart Meters from SDG&E.

Summer rates are effective from June 1 to October 31 each year. Summer rates are higher than Winter rates and your bills during the Summer will likely be much higher as a result even if your usage was comparable to previous billing cycles during the Winter period. This is often the case for customers as they cross into the Summer period. Please note that this is the case for all customers, regardless of your electric generation provider.

The California Climate Credit is part of California’s efforts to fight climate change. SDCP customers will receive the California Climate Credit in both August and September, totaling $128.34 in bill credits to help offset Summer bills. Visit our Summer Readiness Page to learn more ways to save electricity and money over the Summer.

All San Diego Community Power customers also remain SDG&E customers. SDG&E provides electric delivery, meter reading and billing services for SDCP customers. SDG&E will continue to send you just one electric bill, which will now include SDCP charges for electric generation service.

No, SDCP electric generation charges will simply replace what you previously paid for SDG&E electric generation. SDCP is simply replacing a portion of your bill, not adding on anything additional.

No. You will continue to receive just one bill from SDG&E. San Diego Community Power’s charges for electricity generation are included as a line item on your utility bill. SDG&E will continue to charge for the transmission and delivery of electricity, along with a variety of other regulatory and program charges at the same rates they always have. There are no duplicate charges for electricity generation.

When you purchase electricity, you pay for two major components: the creation (also known as the generation) and the delivery (known as transmission & distribution). San Diego Community Power manages the generation of your electricity and SDG&E handles the delivery along with other fees and charges just like they always have.

Customers continue to receive one consolidated bill including all the same charges. The only change will be a line item for SDCP energy generation which will take the place of SDG&E charges.

San Diego Community Power’s rates will be competitive with SDG&E for cleaner energy, offering customers a chance to save money and the environment.

The Power Charge Indifference Adjustment, or PCIA, is a fee assessed by SDG&E that is intended to ensure that customers pay for energy that was contracted by SDG&E to serve them. The PCIA is not a new charge and is assessed for all customers, whether you are enrolled in SDCP electric generation services or not.

When customers receive transmission, delivery, and generation services from SDG&E, the PCIA is embedded in SDG&E’s electric generation rates and the PCIA charge is broken out under the “Breakdown of Current Charges” on the right hand side of the bill. After a customer transitions into SDCP service, the PCIA is outlined as a separate line item in the SDG&E Electric Delivery Charges section of the bill. What is most important to know is that SDCP’s rates – even with the PCIA charge included – will still be competitive with SDG&E’s rates.

No, SDCP is focused solely on electricity. You will still receive your gas bill from SDG&E.

You will continue to receive your gas and electric delivery charges from SDG&E under the Level Pay program. However, your electric generation charges from San Diego Community Power will not be included as part of the Level Pay calculation and will vary from month to month depending on your usage. Therefore, you may see some variance in your monthly bills.

No. SDG&E must provide the same transmission and distribution rates for all customers in their service area, regardless of whether they receive electricity from SDG&E or a Community Choice Aggregator program such as San Diego Community Power.

Yes. The California Public Utilities Commission authorizes SDG&E to collect fees (called public goods charges) from all customers to fund energy efficiency and renewable energy incentive programs. SDG&E still collects these fees from San Diego Community Power customers, so you remain eligible for these incentives and services.

No. SmartRate is a program offered only to SDG&E generation customers. However, SDCP customers can sign up for a similar service through companies that offer demand response programs, or until SDCP creates its own program. The California Public Utilities Commission maintains a list of these companies.

Yes. The California Climate Credit is part of California’s efforts to fight climate change.  The credit is a state government program requiring power plants and other large industries emitting greenhouse gases to buy carbon pollution permits from auctions managed by the Air Resources Board.  The credit on your electricity bill is your share of the payments from the State’s program.

Yes. In addition to providing clean energy at a lower cost, San Diego Community Power customers are able to take advantage of the same discounts offered by the investor-owned utility and the State of California (CARE, FERA, LIHEAP, Medical Baseline), as well as your utility provider’s employee and retiree discounts. SDCP strives to make electric generation charges affordable to all, regardless of income. There is no need to reapply with San Diego Community Power. New enrollments or renewals must still be done through SDG&E’s customer service website or by calling SDG&E at 1-800-411-7343.

San Diego Community Power buys and builds cleaner electricity sources. This electricity is fed onto the statewide shared electric grid and then moves down the path of least resistance to customers. This is why accounting is important. Clean energy is accounted through contracts and renewable energy certificates that confer the “renewable attributes” of that energy. It needs to work this way because individual electrons can’t be routed from a wind turbine to a particular house that just signed up for green power without building a new transmission line directly from the source to the home. SDCP, just like SDG&E, reports power purchases to the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission so you can be sure that we are putting cleaner electricity onto the grid on behalf of our customers.

The Competitive Transition Charge (CTC) was in place prior to the existence of San Diego Community Power and this charge that is assessed by SDG&E is charged to all customers regardless of whether they are receiving their electric generation services from SDCP or SDG&E.

The CTC is a non-bypassable charge applied to all customers’ bills for recovery of SDG&E’s uneconomic, or “stranded” costs, and to fund various public purpose programs administered by the state. In the past, SDG&E made investments in power plants or contracts to ensure they had adequate supply of electricity to meet customers’ demands. In some cases, standards imposed by state government or regional electric reliability councils obliged utilities such as SDG&E to make investments that exceeded actual demand, to ensure a margin of safety. Stranded costs are the costs from such investments that the utility may not be able to recover in the competitive market, because of technological changes and other factors.

Residential service began in 2022, with residents in Imperial Beach being enrolled in February, La Mesa in March, Encinitas in April and San Diego and Chula Vista in May.  Residents in National City and the Unincorporated County of San Diego will be enrolled in SDCP service in April 2023. Residents with solar panels or other net energy metering will automatically transition to SDCP’s NEM program at the time of their annual true-up with SDG&E, regardless of which city they reside in, to ensure that all true-up credits and relevant true-up period details are not impacted by the transition.

The process is automatic as mandated by state law, but as a consumer-choice-driven organization, you always have a choice who you decide to work with for electricity generation. While we believe the combination of competitive rates and cleaner energy is the best choice for healthy communities, you can opt-out of SDCP service at any time by calling 1-888-382-0169 or emailing customerservice@sdcommunitypower.org.

Yes. San Diego Community Power is driven by consumer choice and consumers will always be able to decide who they want to purchase their power. Customers can opt-out through our website, by calling 1-888-382-0169, or by emailing customerservice@sdcommunitypower.org. 

There is no charge for opting out of San Diego Community Power before or within the first 60 days of service. You always have the choice to return to SDG&E or SDCP’s bundled service. You can opt out on our website or by calling 1-888-382-0169. You can also learn more about opting out here.

Yes. You can request to opt out of SDCP at any time. However, customers who opt out after the first 60 days of service with San Diego Community Power will be prohibited by SDG&E from returning to SDCP for one year. SDG&E will also charge a one-time Customer Re-Entry fee of $0.56 for each account returning to full-bundled SDG&E service.

Yes. If you opted out of San Diego Community Power within the first 60 days of service, you can return to SDCP at any time. Call us at our local contact center at 1-888-382-0169 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. PST or visit our website to re-enroll.

However, if you have opted out after the first 60 days of service, SDG&E will charge you a one-time processing fee and requires you stay with their bundled service for one year. Once that year is up, you may re-enroll in SDCP for electric generation services online or by calling our local contact center.

If you are a resident or business in the city of Encinitas, you will be enrolled in our Power100 product of 100% renewable energy. You still have the option to opt down to our PowerOn product of 50% renewable energy or opt out if desired.

For our other member cities of Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, National City, San Diego, and the Unincorporated County of San Diego you will be enrolled in PowerOn. If you’d like to receive 100% renewable energy, you can always opt up to our Power100 service. 

If you are a landlord, SDG&E should have provided you with a landlord account number. This landlord account number, or landlord agreement, covers a set group of service addresses under your name as the landlord, which you may opt out if you are the account holder at the unit. Each time a tenant moves out and an account reverts back to your name at any of these properties, the landlord opt out would ensure that you would not need to opt out each time. The opt out would instead carry over and you would not receive your electric generation services from SDCP.

Please note that if a new tenant moves into one of these premises within SDCP service territory and takes service under their name, they will be automatically enrolled in SDCP service, and will need to call and process their own opt out if they wish to do so. If the unit reverts back to service under your name, however, you will not be defaulted to SDCP service and will not need to process an additional opt out.

Summer rates are effective from June 1 to October 31 each year. Summer rates are higher than Winter rates and your bills during the Summer will likely be much higher as a result even if your usage was comparable to previous billing cycles during the Winter period. This is often the case for customers as they cross into the Summer period. Please note that this is the case for all customers, regardless of your electric generation provider.

Summer rates also include an On-Peak Summer Demand component for accounts on medium to large commercial rates (AL-TOU, AL-TOU-2, A6-TOU, TOU-PA-2, TOU-PA-3>20kW, PA-T-1, and EV-HP). Summer On-Peak Demand charges are based on the highest average demand (also known as peak demand) during the billing cycle, which is tracked in 15-minute intervals by your meter. There are higher rates charged for Demand (kW) to encourage customers to reduce their demand on the grid. The Summer On-Peak Demand charge for electric generation services is assessed on medium to large commercial rates whether you are an SDCP customer or an SDG&E full-bundled customer, and this not an SDCP-specific charge.

San Diego Community Power’s commercial rate schedules are designed to parallel your utility provider’s rate schedules, and apply to generation-related charges only. This includes time-of-use and NEM rate schedules.

Residents with solar panels or other net energy metering will automatically transition to SDCP’s NEM program at the time of their annual true up with SDG&E, regardless of which city they reside in, to ensure that all true up credits and relevant true up period details are not impacted by the transition.

Because you will be automatically enrolled in SDCP’s generation services at the time of your true-up, your enrollment should be a seamless transition and will not impact your existing credits with SDG&E, and you will maintain the same true-up date as before. But there are a few things that you might notice that are different: 

Monthly Billing: SDCP’s default billing option for our NEM customers is monthly billing. This means that we perform monthly account adjustments to avoid a large true-up bill at the end of the year for your electric generation services. Please note, however, that if you wish to maintain annual billing (to mirror the single annual billing and true-up like SDG&E), you have that option! You can fill out the Annual True-Up Notification Form on the NEM page of our website before your account transitions over to SDCP or at the time of your true-up.  

 Net Surplus Compensation rate: When you are a net generator of electricity at the end of your 12-month relevant true-up period as measured in annual kWh and not bill credits, SDCP will pay you for that surplus electricity at the applicable SDG&E Net Surplus Compensation (NSC) rate PLUS the SDCP Bonus Incentive, three-quarters of a cent ($0.0075/kWh) on top of the standard NSC rate adopted by the CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission). Net Surplus Compensation rates vary each month but our bonus incentive of $0.0075 per kWh will always be added to it. View the current NSC rate here. 

 Net Surplus Compensation Annual Cash Out: To make things convenient for you, if your net surplus compensation amount is $100 or more (up to $2,500 per account), we will automatically issue you a check. If it’s less than $100, we will carry that forward to the next year to help offset any consumption charges in the future. 

According to SDG&E, changing service providers has no effect on rate schedules or NEM interconnection. This includes both customers being automatically enrolled into and those that opt out of SDCP.  Customers will not need to reapply for interconnection when they change service providers as they are still under the same (1.0) interconnection agreement regardless of the electricity service provider. However, SDG&E may make changes to NEM 1.0 and NEM 2.0 parameters in the future.  For more information regarding SDG&E’s NEM program, visit sdge.com.

No. SDCP is simply replacing SDG&E as your electric generation provider. All billing will continue through SDG&E for our service, but you will now see SDCP charges, or “CCA Electric Generation Charges”, presented as a line item on your bill. Your lease or PPA provider arrangement will continue as is. 

SDCP NEM customers can elect to remain annually billed. If you prefer to continue with an annual true up and bill to mimic the billing format of SDG&E’s NEM program, please fill out the Annual True-Up Notification Form on the Net Energy Metering page of our website.  

Please note that NEM billing changes can only be made at the time of your relevant true-up date. If you make a billing option change to annual billing, you will not be able to make another switch [back to monthly billing] for a full 12 months. You will also not be able to make changes to your billing option in the middle of or during your 12-month relevant true-up period. 

The majority of NEM customers in our service territory end up being net consumers where they use more electricity than they produce over the course of their 12-month relevant true up period and owe large sums at the time of the annual true up. This is why SDCP defaults NEM customers enrolled in our service to monthly billing. Monthly billing allows customers to pay smaller values for any consumed electricity each month. Since this billing option entails a monthly account balancing, monthly billing avoids a big surprise true up bill at the end of the relevant period for electric generation services.

SDCP customers can also elect to change their NEM billing option to annual billing to mirror the same methodology as SDG&E’s existing billing and true-up process. NEM customers who consistently end up being net generators where they produce more electricity than they use at the end of their relevant 12 month true-up period and expect to receive a cash out each year for excess generation may be interested in the Annual NEM billing option, as payment for any particular month of net consumption would likely be covered by subsequent months of net generation throughout the course of the relevant 12-month true-up period. Please note that if you wish to update your NEM billing to the annual option, you will need to do so at the time of your true up before you have been billed with SDCP charges. Once your NEM billing has been selected, you’ll not be able to change it until after the end of the applicable and pertinent 12- month true up period.

In both billing options, annual true-up cash outs are based on the total cumulative usage of your account over the course of your 12-month relevant true-up period. If you generated more than you consumed over the course of the year, SDCP will pay you for your excess electricity at the Net Surplus Compensation (NSC) rate offered by SDG&E + SDCP’s Bonus Incentive of $0.0075 per kWh.

A Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program is an energy purchasing program from SDCP that allows you to sell energy from a small-scale, distributed renewable generating system within our service territory. The FIT program establishes standard, non-negotiable rules, contract terms, and base price for all eligible small-scale generating systems.

Under the FIT program, SDCP is only the buyer of electricity and does not develop, build, or own the generating systems.

Visit our Feed-In Tariff (FIT) page for more information.