San Diego Community PowerSan Diego
The SDCP solar program in San Diego
San Diego is a San Diego Community Power member community — which means SDCP buys your electricity's generation, SDG&E still delivers it, and your solar export credits split across both. Here's what that means in practice, and how we design for it.
How SDCP billing works for San Diego solar owners
SDCP customers keep their SDG&E interconnection; what changes is who credits the generation portion of exports. Legacy NEM customers (interconnected before April 15, 2023, with a 20-year legacy period from Permission to Operate) get SDCP generation credits, and Net Surplus Compensation is paid at SDG&E's NSC rate plus a $0.0075/kWh bonus (January 2026: $0.02934 at SDG&E vs $0.03684 at SDCP), with surplus above $100 paid by check and smaller balances rolled over; a Balance Credit Refund settles leftover credits at the annual true-up. Systems interconnected after April 15, 2023 fall under SDCP's Solar Billing Plan: export credits follow the CPUC Avoided Cost Calculator on the generation side, the legacy period is nine years from PTO, residential customers go on SDG&E's EV-TOU-5 rate, and billing is monthly only. Against SDG&E's ~46¢/kWh retail rates, the design logic doesn't change: self-consumption first, battery carrying the evening peak — SDCP just adds a small bonus on top.
SDCP programs San Diego homeowners can use
Solar Battery Savings. SDCP's flagship for homeowners (enrollment opened September 30, 2025; terms as posted on sdcommunitypower.org in October 2026): an upfront battery rebate of $350 per kWh for a new solar-and-battery install or $250 per kWh for a new battery added to existing solar, rising to $500 and $350 per kWh for CARE/FERA customers and homes in a Community of Concern, plus a performance payment of $0.10 per kWh discharged when the battery sends at least half its usable capacity into the weekday evening window (it moves month to month but always sits between 4 and 9 PM). The battery must be new, at a single-family home at the service address, charged only from the home's solar, and the household cannot also be enrolled in ELRP or the state's DSGS program (Tesla's virtual power plant payments run through DSGS, so it's one or the other). Batteries installed before enrolling are not eligible at this time. The commitment is five years: leave early and a prorated share of the rebate is repaid (100% in year one, stepping down 20 points a year) and future performance payments stop. For a typical Powerwall-class battery this stacks thousands of dollars onto already-strong SDG&E-territory economics.
How this stacks with a San Diego install
Nothing about SDCP membership changes the physical project — permitting through the city and interconnection with SDG&E run exactly as they would otherwise. What changes is the math, and we build it in from the first model: your actual SDCP rate tier, the generation-side export credits, and any program incentives you qualify for, all modeled clearly next to the SDG&E delivery side. The result is a quote that reflects what a San Diego home on SDCP will really pay and really earn — not a generic SDG&E assumption.
For the full local picture — San Diego's permit process, roof stock, and pricing — see our San Diego solar page. For the delivery-side rules, see SDG&E net metering explained — and if backup power is on your list, battery options here.