2. Background
In Decision (D.) 10-01-022,1 adopted on January 22, 2010, the Commission established the California Solar Initiative (CSI) Thermal Program, which pays incentives to Solar Water Heating (SWH) systems that displace natural gas, electricity or propane. The CSI Thermal Program Administrators2 (PAs) pay the incentives to customers with qualifying projects. The incentives for natural gas-displacing systems are funded by $250 million collected from natural gas ratepayers, as contemplated by Assembly Bill (AB) 1470, the Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007 (Stats. 2007 ch. 536). The incentives for electric-displacing systems are funded by $100.8 million collected from electric ratepayers and allocated for solar thermal incentives in the general market program budget of the CSI program.
The incentive budget for the natural gas-displacing portion of the program will continue until all the funds have been awarded or until December 31, 2017. The incentive budget for the electric-displacing portion of the program is available until the CSI general market program budget has been exhausted or January 1, 2017, whichever occurs first. A portion of the $250 million collected from natural gas ratepayers is allocated to measurement and evaluation, market facilitation and program administration, leaving $205 million for payment of incentives ($180 million for general market and $25 million for the low-income incentive program). $7.5 million has been budgeted for market facilitation and program administration for electric-displacing systems, with an additional amount from the CSI budget for administration.
The incentive program divides the available funds between customer classes (i.e., single-family customers and commercial and multifamily customers), and between customers with electric-displacing and natural gas-displacing systems. The levels of incentives are structured, with the highest payments available to customers who participate early in the program. As more systems are installed, the incentive amount decreases.
On November 10, 2011, two decisions were issued modifying D.10-01-022: D.11-11-005 modified it to allow propane-displacing SWH systems to qualify for incentives and D.11-11-004 modified it to address issues related to certification standards. In addition, D.11-10-015, issued in October 2011, outlined the components for the low-income portion of the SWH incentive program.
Following the Commission's approval of the CSI Thermal Program in D.10-01-022 in January 2010, Energy Division worked with the PAs to develop the CSI Thermal Program Handbook, database, online application and incentive calculator. The program began accepting applications for single-family systems on May 1, 2010 and for multifamily and commercial systems on October 8, 2010. The decision also contemplated a statewide marketing campaign to promote the program. The marketing campaign kicked off in April 2012.
On January 30, 2012, California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA) filed a petition to modify D.10-01-022 (Petition) to adjust the incentive amounts and increase training for installers. CALSEIA cited the fact that to date there have been few single-family SWH systems installed and multifamily and commercial installations have also been sluggish. CALSEIA states that the petition was filed outside the one year window because CALSEIA waited two years after the start of the program to see if participation levels would increase.
1 The petition proposes modification of D.10-01-022, adopted in Rulemaking (R.) 08-03-008. In May 2010 the Commission opened the successor rulemaking R.10-05-004 and directed that all modifications of prior decisions should occur in the new rulemaking docket (See R.10-05-004, Ordering Paragraph 3.)
2 The CSI Thermal PAs are Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison Company (SCE), Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), and the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) in the San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) service territory.
