Disadvantaged Communities - Single-family Solar Homes (DAC-SASH)

Disadvantaged Communities - Single-family Solar Homes (DAC-SASH) is sponsored by California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) / GRID Alternatives. This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

Solar in Disadvantaged Communities Solar in Disadvantaged Communities The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has four programs designed to increase adoption of renewable generation in disadvantaged communities (DAC) p ursuant to the requirements of Assembly Bill (AB) 327 (Perea, 2013) . The Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) program , adopted in Decision (D.)

17-12-022 , counts toward the CPUC’s obligations under AB 327 . This program provides an avenue for customers residing in multifamily affordable housing to access solar electric generation, with a special provision to increase solar installation in DACs. Also, the CPUC created three programs to increase access to solar for residents of disadvantaged communities located within PG&E's, SCE's, or SDG&E's service territories in D.

18-06-027 . Disadvantaged Communities - Single-family Solar Homes (DAC-SASH) : This program enables income-qualified homeowners in DACs to receive no-cost rooftop solar installations. Disadvantaged Communities - Green-Tariff (DAC-GT) : This program enables income-qualified, residential customers in DACs who may be unable to install solar on their roof to benefit from utility-scale clean energy and receive a 20% bill discount.

Community Solar Green Tariff (CSGT) : This program enables residential customers in DACs who may be unable to install solar on their roof to benefit from a local solar project and receive a 20% bill discount. The communities work with a local non-profit or government “sponsor” to organize community interest and present siting locations to the utility or CCA.

Defining Eligible Communities To define disadvantaged communities which communities are eligible for these solar programs, the CPUC relied on CalEnviroScreen , which identifies California communities by census tract that are disproportionately burdened by and vulnerable to multiple sources of pollution.

For these programs, the CPUC defines a "disadvantaged community" as a community that appears among the top 25 percent of census tracts identified by CalEnviroScreen statewide, as well as 22 census tracts in the highest 5 percent of CalEnviroScreen's Pollution Burden, but that do not have an overall CalEnviroScreen score because of unreliable socioeconomic or health data.

The CPUC later expanded the three programs to California Indian County. The Disadvantaged Communities – Single-family Solar Homes (DAC-SASH) program, modeled after the Single-family Affordable Solar Homes (SASH) Program , provides financial incentives for the installation of rooftop solar generating systems.

The incentives assist income-qualified DAC customers in overcoming barriers to the installation of onsite solar energy, such as lack of capital or credit needed to finance a solar installation. P lease visit GRID Alternatives’ website to apply for a no-cost solar system .

The DAC-SASH program also incorporates job training objectives to promote green-collar jobs in low-income communities and to develop a trained workforce that will foster a sustainable solar industry in California. Through a competitive solicitation, GRID Alternatives was selected to serve as the statewide program administrator for the DAC-SASH program.

The CPUC approved the DAC-SASH Program Handbook and Program Implementation Plan in Resolution E-5020 on September 12, 2019, signaling the official launch of the DAC-SASH program. Income-qualified, single-family homeowners in DACs (must be eligible for CARE or FERA ) or in San Joaquin Valley (SJV) pilot communities identified in R. 15-03-010 .

$3/watt incentives to install an onsite solar system and energy efficiency training In DACs on a qualified customer's property 1 kilowatt (kW) or higher ($10 million per year 2019 - 2030) Program Implementation Plan Program Handbook, 6 th Edition 2025 Marketing, Education, and Outreach Plan December 2025 Semi-Annual Progress Report Energy Division staff report (redacted): Closing the Funding Gap: Evaluating Solar-Readiness Costs in California's Disadvantaged Communities - Single Family Affordable Homes (DAC-SASH) Program Program years 2022-2024: Verdant Associates, LLC will complete an independent evaluation of the DAC-SASH program.

2026 April Final Evaluation Report 2026 March Draft Evaluation Report 2026 March Public Webinar Slides 2025 April Final Evaluation Research Plan Program years 2019-2021: Evergreen Economics and the Brightline Group completed a process and load impact evaluation of the DAC-SASH program.

Program Administrator Response to Recommendations in the DAC-SASH Evaluation Report Final DAC-SASH Evaluation Report and Appendices Evaluator Response to Comments on Final SASH & DAC-SASH Reports Draft DAC-SASH Final Evaluation Report and Appendices 2022 March Final SASH and DAC-SASH Evaluation Research Plan and Response to Public Comments 2022 January SASH and DAC-SASH Research Plan Webinar Slides 2022 January Draft SASH and DAC-SASH Evaluation Research Plan D.

18-06-027 : Decision creating the DAC-SASH, DAC-GT, and CSGT programs. D. 18-10-007 : Decision correcting and clarifying Decision 18-06-027.

D. 20-12-003 >: Decision regarding PFM of D. 18-06-027, providing direction regarding marketing and outreach of DAC-SASH, and expanding DAC-SASH eligibility to California Indian Country.

Resolution E-5020 : Approves GRID Alternative's DAC-SASH Program Handbook and Program Implementation Plan. The Disadvantaged Communities - Green Tariff (DAC-GT) program is modeled after the Green Tariff Program . DAC-GT allows customers who are not in a position to take advantage of SOMAH or DAC-SASH through onsite solar, to still benefit from solar energy.

PG&E's, SCE's, and SDG&E's implementation plans for the DAC-GT program were approved with modification in Resolution E-4999 . DAC-GT was approved by the CPUC in June 2018 and the first request for offers (RFO) was launched in 2019.

The program is administered by the three large investor-owned utilities (PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E) and ten Community Choice Aggregators (Ava Community Energy, Clean Power Alliance, CleanPowerSF, Lancaster Choice Energy, MCE Community Choice Energy, Peninsula Clean Energy, Pico Rivera Innovative Municipal Energy, San Jacinto Power, San José Clean Energy, and San Diego Community Power.

Income eligible residential customers in DACs (must be eligible for CARE or FERA ) 20% off their otherwise applicable electric rate In DACs or within a 5-mile radius of DACs; within 40 miles of DACs for SJV pilot communities 500 kW - 20 megawatts (MW) (MW caps within each utility's service territory, with some capacity reserved for CCAs) Please check the DAC-GT link above for more information and updates .

The Community Solar Green Tariff (CSGT) program is a structured similarly to the DAC-GT program but requires each solar project to be located in proximity to the customers it serves. It provides participating customers a sense of ownership in locally-generated solar power via the required participation of a community sponsor.

Community sponsors will help ensure interest from the local community and community engagement in project siting. If eligible, community sponsors can receive a 20 percent bill discount on up to 25 percent of a CSGT project's energy output. Clean Power Alliance continues to administer the program.

Decision 24-05-065, issued in June 2024, discontinued the buik of the program and transferred the remaining capacity to the DAC-GT program. 20% off their otherwise applicable electric rate In DACs within 5 miles of DAC(s) where subscribing customers reside DAC-GT and CSGT Program Documents Through Q2 2021: Evergreen Economics completed a process evaluation of the DAC-GT and CSGT programs.

2022 June DAC-GT and CSGT Program Administrator Responses to Evaluation 2022 April DAC-GT and CSGT Evaluation Report and Comments (Final Version) 2022 March DAC-GT and CSGT Evaluation Report Draft 2022 March DAC-GT and CSGT Evaluation Report Webinar Slide Deck 2021 July DAC-GT and CSGT Final Research Plan 2021 July DAC-GT and CSGT Final Research Plan Responses to Comments Community Solar Proceeding A. 22-05-022 D.

24-05-065 expanded and improved existing community solar programs and launched a new community renewable energy program that will allow California to capture millions of dollars in state and federal funding, including the Solar For All grant recently awarded to California by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. More information can be found at www. cpuc.

ca. gov/communitysolar . Proceeding A.

22-05-022 began in May 2022 and included the legislative directives of AB 2316 (Ward, 2022) and AB 2838 (O’Donnell, 2022) , which required the Commission to review its existing customer renewable energy subscription programs including DAC Green Tariff, Community Solar Green Tariff and Green Tariff Shared Renewables programs and consider whether to adopt a new community renewable energy program.

This proceeding reviewed program goals, budget, capacity, design, implementation, and consumer protections. D. 21-12-036, issued in December 2021, also directed that the IOUs include implementation details for the Green Tariff Shared Renewable (GTSR) Program in their DAC-GT & CSGT Applications.

Energy Division staff shared a guidance template and held a public webinar in September 2021 to better communicate what additional information their Applications for review of the DAC-GT, CSGT, and Green Tariff Shared Renewables programs should include. DAC-GT and CSGT Regulatory Documents D. 18-06-027 : Decision creating the DAC-SASH, DAC-GT, and CSGT programs.

D. 18-10-007 : Decision correcting and clarifying Decision 18-06-027. D.

20-07-008 : Decision implementing automatic enrollment of PG&E's DAC-GT program. D. 20-12-003 : Decision regarding PFM of D.

18-06-027, providing direction regarding marketing and outreach of DAC-SASH, and expanding DAC-SASH eligibility to California Indian Country. Resolution E-4999 : Approves PG&E's, SCE's, and SDG&E's DAC-GT and CSGT program implementation plans with modifications. Resolution E-5102 : Approves Clean Power Alliance’s DAC-GT and CSGT program implementation plans with modifications.

Resolution E-5124 : Approves CleanPowerSF’s, East Bay Community Energy’s, Marin Clean Energy’s, Peninsula Clean Energy’s, and San Jose Clean Energy’s DAC-GT and/or CSGT program implementation plans with modifications. Resolution E-5125 : Approves with modification PG&E’s and SCE’s requests to adjust administrative and marketing budget caps for the DAC-GT and/or CSGT programs.

Resolution E-5130: Approves Lancaster Choice Energy’s, Pico Rivera Innovative Municipal Energy’s, and San Jacinto Power’s DAC-GT program implementation plans with modifications. Resolution E-5212 : Approves two PFMs of Resolution E-4999, updates CalEnviroScreen geographic eligibility requirements, and expands DAC-GT and CSGT eligibility to California Indian Country.

Resolution E-5246 : Approves San Diego Community Power’s DAC-GT and CSGT program implementation plans with modifications. AB 2143 DER Installations Report Assembly Bill (AB) 2143 (Carillo), approved in 2022, added section 913.

13 to the Public Utilities Code (PUC) and directed the CPUC to submit annually to the legislature a report on the progress made to grow distributed energy resources (DER) among residential customers in low-income households and disadvantaged communities. AB 2143 also required the CPUC to submit an aggregated list, by census tract and ZIP Code, of all DER facilities that began to receive service to a NEM contract the preceding year.

Below are the submitted report and data sets. 2024 Distributed Energy Resources Installations in Disadvantaged Communities and Low-Income Households Snapshot Report Aggregated List 2024 NEM Installations - Census Tract Aggregated List 2024 NEM Installations - ZIP Code You are welcome to contact the CPUC if you have any questions about information on this webpage. For press inquiries, please contact the CPUC News and Outreach Office .

Solar in Disadvantaged Communities DAC-GT and CSGT Procurement The Community Solar Green Tariff CSGT Program The Disadvantaged Communities Green Tariff DAC-GT Program CARE and FERA Energy BIll Discounts Energy Savings Assistance Program Free Efficiency Services SwitchIsOn.

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