Assignment of Proceeding
Commissioner Michael R. Peevey is the assigned Commissioner and Dorothy J. Duda is the assigned Administrative Law Judge in this portion of the proceeding.
1. The Commission will give further consideration to CSI marketing and outreach activities in a later portion of this proceeding.
2. The CSI program administrators have no established budget or guidance from the Commission regarding marketing and outreach activities.
3. The Public Utilities Code limits CSI spending to $2.16 billion.
1. The CSI program is underway and there is an immediate need for basic marketing and outreach by program administrators.
2. The program administrators should submit proposed interim marketing and outreach plans by letter to the Director of Energy Division, as set forth in detail in Appendix A, for review by Energy Division in consultation with the assigned Commissioner.
3. Following Energy Division approval of interim marketing plans, each program administrator should submit final versions of collateral marketing materials to Energy Division staff for review and approval, as described in Appendix A.
4. For the interim, the program administrators may jointly market CSI and energy efficiency, as long as they create and adhere to a method for tracking and allocating marketing costs between the two programs.
5. SDG&E may charge SDREO for technical support on interconnection only to the extent PG&E and SCE charge for this support.
6. The CSI program administrators should each spend no more than $500,000 annually for interim marketing and outreach, until further order of this Commission or unless Energy Division approves an additional $100,000. This $500,000 annual limit is in addition to the cap of 5% of budgeted CSI funds for administrative expenses.
IT IS ORDERED that the California Solar Initiative interim marketing and outreach plan and process set forth in Appendix A is adopted.
This order is effective today.
Dated May 24, 2007, at San Francisco, California.
MICHAEL R. PEEVEY
President
DIAN M. GRUENEICH
JOHN A. BOHN
RACHELLE B. CHONG
TIMOTHY ALAN SIMON
Commissioners
APPENDIX A
California Solar Initiative
Interim Marketing and Outreach Plans and Process
California Solar Initiative program administrators should adhere to the following process for review and approval of interim marketing and outreach plans:
1. Within 20 days of the effective date of this order, each program administrator shall send a letter to the Director of the Energy Division, with a copy to all parties on the service list of this rulemaking, containing their interim CSI marketing and outreach plans and a budget for interim marketing activities for the remainder of 2007.
2. Within 20 days of program administrators' interim marketing proposals, parties on the service list may send a letter to the Director of the Energy Division commenting on the proposed interim marketing plans. The CSI program administrators will have five days to respond. Following review of any comments by parties and after consultation with the assigned Commissioner, the Director of Energy Division will expeditiously notify each program administrator by letter whether its interim plans are approved, or modified.
3. The proposed interim plans should incorporate the following:
a. A budget of no more than $500,000 annually for each program administrator.
b. A description of planned interim marketing and outreach activities and types of materials.
c. Plans for each program administrator to conduct at least one training session per month directed at solar installers. Invitations should be distributed to at least all those persons or organizations on the CSI, Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP), and the California Energy Commission's Emerging Renewables Program (ERP) databases, eligible installer lists, and the service list of this proceeding.
d. Plans for PG&E and SCE to distribute at least two bill inserts either in 2007 or no later than the end of the first quarter of 2008 to promote CSI. At least one of these bill inserts should target the residential and small commercial market. The proposed inserts should be submitted to the Energy Division for review and approval prior to release. SDREO should propose other independent mailings or target marketing activities in lieu of a bill insert.
e. Plans for program administrators to coordinate on one monthly electronic newsletter that they would issue jointly to update readers on new program tools and information, the current focus of CSI implementation discussions, and methods for the public to submit suggested solutions on implementation concerns. The newsletters must be sent to all applicants in the SGIP, CSI, and ERP databases, to lists of registered sellers and installers, posted to the GoSolarCalifornia and program administrators' websites, and sent to the service list of this proceeding. Energy Division staff may recommend particular topics to be addressed.
f. A method for tracking and allocating marketing costs between energy efficiency and CSI programs if CSI is jointly marketed with energy efficiency.
4. The interim plans may include, but are not limited to, plans to develop the following outreach materials, as long as program administrators stay within the $500,000 annual budget limit:
a. Brochures
b. Fact sheets
c. Bill inserts or other direct mailings
d. A short video for the GoSolarCalifornia website (jointly funded by all program administrators) to walk interested applicants through the application process.
e. Web-based applicant training seminars.
5. Program administrators may request a 20% budget increase, or an additional $100,000, but must provide detailed justification to Energy Division why additional marketing expenses are required.
6. Following Energy Division approval of interim marketing and outreach plans, program administrators shall send final versions of basic marketing and collateral materials, in the form of program brochures, fact sheets, and general customer education kits to the Director of the Energy Division when ready for review. The materials should be patterned after materials on the "GoSolarCalifornia" website.3 The materials must, whenever possible, reference the program administrator's role in the CSI program, energy efficiency audit requirements, and the GoSolarCalifornia website. Energy Division will review the proposed materials, in consultation with the assigned Commissioner, and expeditiously notify the program administrator whether the materials are approved or require modification.
7. The program administrators should submit semi-annual expense reports on all administrative activities to the Director of the Energy Division, with the first report due July 15, 2007, and further reports every six months thereafter. The reports should separately delineate interim marketing and outreach from other administrative expenses so Energy Division can track the various categories of administrative expenditures. Each program administrator may spend no more than 5% of its total CSI funds for administration, plus $500,000 for interim marketing and outreach, until further order of the Commission.
8. Each program administrator shall update its interim marketing and outreach plan by sending a follow-up letter to the Director of the Energy Division six months after the date of its initial letter, and every six months thereafter, until a final marketing and outreach plan is adopted in this proceeding.
(END OF APPENDIX A)
3 www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov
