All San Diego Community Power customers also remain SDG&E customers. San Diego Community Power customers will continue to receive just one electricity bill from SDG&E. SDG&E will continue to charge for the transmission and delivery of electricity along with a variety of other regulatory and program charges, and San Diego Community Power’s charges for electricity generation will now be included to replace SDG&E’s electric generation service.

No. San Diego Community Power’s electric generation charges will simply replace SDG&E’s electric generation charges. San Diego Community Power is replacing a part of your bill, not adding to it.

San Diego Community Power is committed to providing cleaner electricity at competitive rates. For current information on San Diego Community Power’s rates, please view our Residential Rates webpage or Commercial Rates webpage. You can view an average comparison of our generation rates alongside those of SDG&E using the Joint Rate Comparison, available on SDG&E’s website.

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 higher than they were in the winter as a result. Please note that this is the case for all customers, regardless of whether San Diego Community Power or SDG&E provides their electric generation services.

Visit our Energy Saving Tips webpage to learn more ways to reduce your summer electricity bill.

Yes. The California Climate Credit is part of California’s efforts to fight climate change. The credit on your electricity bill is your share of the payments from the State’s program. You will receive the California Climate Credit regardless of who provides your electric generation service.

Yes. San Diego Community Power customers can access the same discounts offered by SDG&E, including CARE, FERA, LIHEAP and Medical Baseline. Customers who were enrolled in financial assistance programs before starting service with San Diego Community Power will remain enrolled in any active programs. You do not need to reapply after starting service with San Diego Community Power.

Please note, all customers enrolled in CARE or FERA, regardless of their electric generation provider, will need to reapply every two years to continue to receive benefits and ensure eligibility. To learn more, visit SDG&E’s website.

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 a part of the Level Pay Program 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 services territory, regardless of whether they are enrolled in San Diego Community Power’s service.

The Power Charge Indifferent Adjustment, or PCIA, is a fee assessed by SDG&E intended to ensure that customers pay for the electricity contracted by SDG&E to serve them. The PCIA is not a new charge and is assessed for all customers, regardless of whether they are enrolled in San Diego Community Power’s service.

For customers who receive electric generation service from SDG&E, the PCIA is embedded in SDG&E’s electric generation rates and broken out under the “Breakdown of Current Charges” section of the bill. For customers who receive electric generation service from San Diego Community Power, the PCIA is outlined as a separate line item in the “SDG&E Electric Delivery Charges” section of the bill.

Please note that even with the PCIA charge included, San Diego Community Power’s rates remain competitive with SDG&E’s.

The Competition Transition Charge, or CTC, is a fee assessed by SDG&E for recovery of SDG&E’s uneconomic or “stranded” costs and to fund various public purpose programs administered by the state. The CTC is not a new charge and is assessed for all customers, regardless of whether they are enrolled in San Diego Community Power’s service.

Per California state law, customers within San Diego Community Power service territory were automatically enrolled in our service. Residential service began in 2022: Residents in Imperial Beach were 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 communities of San Diego County were enrolled in April 2023.

Any residents with solar panels or other self-generation systems were automatically transitioned into San Diego Community Power’s Net Energy Metering program at the time of their annual true up with SDG&E in order to ensure that all true up credits and relevant true up period details were not impacted by the transition. Please note, customers are automatically enrolled into Monthly Billing upon the start of their Community Power service. Customers still on NEM 1.0 or 2.0 can switch to Annual Billing on our Annual Billing webpage.

Yes. San Diego Community Power is committed to empowering customers to make choices about their electricity. You can opt out of our service at any time on our Opt Out webpage.

Instead of opting out, you may want to consider opting down to PowerBase. This is San Diego Community Power’s most affordable service plan for those who want a lower cost option while continuing to support their community-driven, not-for-profit clean energy provider. Learn more here.

Please note that if you choose to opt out of San Diego Community Power after the first 60 days of service, SDG&E requires that you choose one of the following return options.

Option 1: Immediate Return: You will return to SDG&E service on your next meter read date that occurs at least 5 business days after you opt out. During the first 6 months of service with SDG&E, you will be subject to SDG&E’s transitional bundled rates which are the market rate for electricity. This rate can be lower or higher than the standard rates and is subject to change throughout the 6-month period. At the end of the 6-month period, you will be returned to SDG&E’s standard bundled rates.

Option 2: 6-Month Return: You will provide SDG&E 6 months advance notice that you will be returning to their service and will remain with San Diego Community Power on our standard rates for 6 months. After 6 months of San Diego Community Power service following your processed opt out, you will be transferred to SDG&E’s standard bundled rates. You will not be subject to SDG&E’s transitional bundled rates.

If you opted out of San Diego Community Power within the first 60 days of service, you can return at any time.

However, if you opted out after the first 60 days of service, SDG&E will require you to stay within their bundled service for one year. Once that year is up, you may re-enroll in San Diego Community Power.

You can re-enroll or learn whether you are eligible to re-enroll on our Re-enroll webpage or by calling our Contact Center at (888) 382-0169.

If you are a landlord, SDG&E should have provided you with a landlord account number, or landlord agreement, which covers a set group of service addresses under your name as the landlord. If you are the account holder at the unit, you may opt out using the landlord account number.

Please note that if a new tenant moves into one of your units and takes service under their name, they will be automatically enrolled in San Diego Community Power service and will need to opt out on their own if they wish to do so. However, if a tenant moves out and the account reverts to your name, you would not need to process an additional opt out. The opt out would carry over, and you would not receive electric generation service from San Diego Community Power.

Yes. San Diego Community Power offers Net Energy Metering (NEM) and Solar Billing Plan (SBP) programs for customers with renewable energy self-generation systems.

If you are an existing customer who installed an eligible renewable energy self-generation system, such as solar panels or wind turbines, before April 15, 2023, learn more about our Net Energy Metering (NEM) program on our Net Energy Metering webpage.

If you applied for interconnection of an eligible renewable energy self-generation system, such as solar panels or wind turbines, on or after April 15, 2023, or if you have reached the end of your 20-year legacy period on NEM 1.0, learn more about our Solar Billing Plan (SBP) on our Solar Billing Plan webpage.

According to SDG&E, opting out of San Diego Community Power and returning to their service has no effect on rate schedules or Net Energy Meting (NEM) interconnection. Customers will not need to reapply for interconnection when they change service providers as they are still under the same (1.0 or 2.0) interconnection agreement regardless of the electricity service provider.

However, SDG&E may make changes to NEM 1.0 and 2.0 parameters in the future. Visit SDG&E’s website for more information.

No. Your lease or Power Purchase Agreement provider arrangement will continue as is.

San Diego Community Power is simply replacing SDG&E as your electric generation provider. All billing will continue through SDG&E, but you will now see San Diego Community Power charges, or “CCA Electric Generation Charges,” presented as a line item on your bill.

Because most Net Energy Metering (NEM) customers are net consumers (use more electricity than they produce), San Diego Community Power defaults NEM customers enrolled in our service to monthly billing. Monthly billing allows customers to pay smaller amounts each month rather than one large bill at the end of the relevant period.

San Diego Community Power NEM customers can elect to change to annual billing. This option may be preferable for NEM customers who are net generators (produce more electricity than they consume) in any month during their relevant period, as payment for a month of net consumption would likely be covered by subsequent months of net generation throughout the relevant 12-month 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 San Diego Community Power charges for the new relevant period. Once your NEM billing has been selected, you will 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, San Diego Community Power will pay you for your excess electricity at the Net Surplus Compensation (NSC) rate offered by SDG&E plus our bonus incentive of $0.0075 per kWh.

If you prefer to continue with annual billing and true up, please fill out the Annual True Up Notification Form, which can also be found on our Net Energy Metering webpage.

Please note that Net Energy Metering billing changes can only be made at the time of your relevant true up date, before you are billed for San Diego Community Power charges in the new relevant period. 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 during your 12-month relevant true up period.

Your NEM credit for exports applied each month is based on the full retail cost of providing energy and is calculated using your current electric rate. These NEM credits are only used to offset Community Power charges for electricity usage within the applicable relevant period.

Your Net Surplus Compensation (NSC) is required by California Assembly Bill 920 to be paid out at a rate that is comparable to what is paid to other energy producers for electricity generation in the wholesale market.

While your NSC may be lower than your accrued NEM credits, Community Power adds our bonus of $0.0075 to SDG&E’s current NSC rate to provide additional compensation to our customers as a thank you for generating clean energy. You can review Community Power’s NSC rates on the NEM page of our website, under “True Up and Net Surplus Compensation.”

In December 2022, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted to modernize the rooftop solar program to better balance the needs of the grid, the environment and customers. The Solar Billing Plan (SBP), also called the Net Billing Tariff (NBT) and previously referred to as “NEM 3.0”, is the CPUC’s new approach to compensating solar generation. It is intended to promote grid reliability and incentivize solar and battery storage, which can extend the use of renewable energy to peak evening hours when the sun is down and energy use is high. This helps decrease the need to generate electricity from fossil fuels and reduces overall grid costs, which improves energy affordability for all Californians.

Each month, Solar Billing Plan (SBP) customers will receive charges for the electricity they used, or “imported,” from the grid, as well as bill credits for any surplus energy their solar system delivers back, or “exports,” to the grid.

Charges for electricity usage are based on the time-of-use (TOU) pricing structure, where the price of electricity you use (“import”) varies depending on the TOU period (i.e., On Peak, Off Peak, Super Off Peak).

The credits for electricity that your system generates (“exports”) are based on the value of electricity sent to the electric grid which varies by each hour of the day. Electricity exported to the grid will be valued at a price called an “energy export credit”, or “ECC”. The ECC rates are valued similarly to wholesale rates for electricity.

San Diego Community Power will apply energy charges and credits on the generation side of your bill, and SDG&E will apply charges and credits on the transmission/delivery side of your bill.

You will not experience changes to your Net Energy Metering program status as a result of the Solar Billing Plan (SBP) unless:

1. Your generation system’s 20-year NEM legacy period has ended. Once your 20-year NEM legacy period has ended, you will transition from NEM to SBP.
2. You modify your generation system above the California Public Utilities Commission mandated system capacity requirements needed to be in NEM 1.0 or NEM 2.0. You will transition to SBP if you expand your current system by more than 10% of the original system capacity or 1 kW, whichever is larger.

Net Energy Metering (NEM) closed as of April 14, 2023 and beginning April 15, 2023, any interconnection requests are now served under the Solar Billing Plan (SBP). NEM and SBP are different in a number of ways:

• NEM customers have a legacy period of 20 years from their Permission to Operate (PTO) date, whereas SBP customers will have a legacy period of 9 years from their PTO date.
• NEM customers are required to take service on a time of use (TOU) rate, whereas SBP customers are required to take service on a “highly differentiated” TOU rate, EV-TOU-5 for residential customers. This is a special rate plan under which electricity is more expensive during the time of the highest average usage when there is the most stress on the grid, and less expensive at other times. Non-residential customers will remain on their existing rate schedule.
• NEM customers’ export rate is based on their Otherwise Applicable Tariff, or retail rates, whereas SBP customers’ export rates will be based on the Avoided Cost Calculator (ACC). These ACC rates vary by hour and month, rather than by TOU period, and are closely aligned with wholesale rates. ACC rates encourage customers to install battery systems to store their solar generation and export to the grid when the export rate is highest and the grid is most stressed.
• NEM customers have the option to enroll in annual billing so that their billing is applied once at the end of the year, whereas SBP customers will not be eligible for annual billing and will be charged for consumption on a monthly basis.

San Diego Community Power will apply a $0.0075 per kWh adder to SDG&E’s Export Compensation Rate (ECC) hourly prices for customers with new generating systems. CARE/FERA customers will have an adder of $0.11 per kWh (instead of $0.0075 per kWh) on top of SDG&E’s ECC rate.

Please note that NEM 1.0 and 2.0 customers that have either completed or terminated their 20-year legacy period will not be eligible for San Diego Community Power’s adders.

San Diego Community Power’s SBP offers an Electricity Export Credit Refund. At the time of your annual true up, if you have accumulated Electricity Export Credits in excess of any outstanding San Diego Community Power charges, those credits will be carried over as a bill credit for use in the next relevant period(s) for up to the total San Diego Community Power charges you accrued during the applicable relevant period. Any unused Electricity Export Credits beyond that bill credit will not be carried forward to the start of a new relevant period, but instead will be zeroed out.

San Diego Community Power’s Net Surplus Compensation (NSC) will remain exactly the same for SBP customers as it is applied for NEM customers and will be based on total net generation and the current NSC rate plus our adder of $0.0075. SDG&E reclaims ACC/Electricity Export Credit already compensated to the customer during their annual true up/NSC process.

NSC values of $100 or more that exceed any outstanding charges will be sent a payment by check and any NSC less than $100 will be carried forward into the subsequent relevant period.

For commercial customers, San Diego Community Power’s SBP will allow for Export Credits to be used to offset all aspects of your San Diego Community Power import charges, including demand charges, regardless of whether they are based on usage in nature or otherwise. SDG&E’s NBT mechanics only allow for credits based on usage in kWh to be offset by charges based on usage in kWh (excluding Demand in kW).

San Diego Community Power is a locally run not-for-profit public agency known as a Community Choice Aggregator, or CCA. San Diego Community Power purchases clean energy on behalf of their customers. SDG&E then delivers that energy through their existing powerlines and continues to provide services such as meter readings and billing.

San Diego Community Power and other CCAs introduce competition into the marketplace, reinvest revenues in the communities they serve, empower their customers to make choices about their electricity provider and power the region with clean, reliable energy.

San Diego Community Power offers four service plans: PowerBase, PowerOn, Power100 and Power100 Green+. PowerBase is 45% renewable, PowerOn is at least 50% renewable and Power100 and Power100 Green+ are both 100% renewable and carbon-free. Learn more about the service options available to you here.

San Diego Community Power purchases electricity from renewable sources on the open market.

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. San Diego Community Power is also required to submit this information to state regulators to ensure compliance with California law.

San Diego Community Power strives to purchase electricity from within or near our service territory. We are also working towards building local renewable energy projects within the San Diego region.

For specifics on San Diego Community Power’s energy procurement, view our Energy Sources webpage.

San Diego Community Power’s Board of Directors, which is comprised of local elected leaders from each of our member agencies, approve all key decisions. Day-to-day operations are managed by San Diego Community Power’s Chief Executive Officer, Karin Burns.

San Diego Community Power also has a Community Advisory Committee, or CAC, made up of two community representatives from each of our member agencies. CAC members provide guidance and community input to our Board of Directors. If you are interested in joining the CAC, you can view the application here.

San Diego Community Power is financed exclusively by the payments received from our customers. We do not receive tax dollars. We are a not-for-profit and reinvest excess revenues back into the communities we serve.

No. San Diego Community Power 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 San Diego Community Power. If someone calls or reaches out to you claiming to be associated with San Diego Community Power 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.

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 San Diego Community Power purchases. Please call SDG&E if you’re experiencing a power outage to restore power: 1 (800) 411-7343.

San Diego Community Power purchases energy from renewable sources. This electricity is fed onto the statewide shared electric grid, and then moves down the path of least resistance to customers.

Clean energy is accounted through contracts and renewable energy certificates that confer the “renewable attributes” of that energy. Electrons cannot be routed from a renewable source to a particular home or business without building a new transmission line directly from the source to the home or business, but San Diego Community Power, 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.

Carbon-free energy, also known as clean energy, creates no greenhouse gas emissions and comes from sources such as hydroelectric power. Renewable energy comes from resources that are naturally replenished in short periods of time and produce no waste, such as solar, wind and geothermal.

San Diego Community Power currently supports clean energy from sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, large-hydro and biomass.