Solar Impact is Clean Energy Alliance’s (CEA) option for customers with eligible renewable energy systems, like solar panels. Solar Impact is open to customers that submitted an Interconnection Application with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) on or after April 15, 2023, or for customers whose Net Energy Metering (NEM) 1.0 or NEM 2.0 legacy period ended after April 15, 2023. CEA created Solar Impact to meet the California Public Utilities Commission’s new regulations on solar compensation.

How to Enroll

Customers who enrolled in SDG&E’s NEM program prior to April 15, 2023 are automatically enrolled in CEA’s Personal Impact, or CEA’s Solar Impact program if they signed up on or after April 15, 2023.

Information on how to submit a Solar Interconnection Application with SDG&E can be found here.

For more information, email AskCEA@TheCleanEnergyAlliance.org.

Terms and Conditions

Billing

With Solar Impact, billing is based on time-of-use (TOU) rates. Customers are charged the applicable rate for the energy they use and receive a credit for the energy they send to the grid. The credit is determined per kilowatt (kWh) and is based on the energy’s value at the time it is sent to the grid. The energy values are based on the same export credit pricing paid by San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E). 

→ Solar Impact premium: Solar Impact customers earn an additional $0.01 per kWh for energy they export to the grid. This $0.01 per kWh is in addition to the credit based on SDG&E’s pricing.

At the end of each monthly billing period, the customer’s charges and credits will be calculated based on how much energy they used and sent to the grid. If the customer has a charge due, the charge will appear as a balance due on their SDG&E bill. If the customer accrues a credit, the credit will be applied to the following month’s bill and netted against any accrued charges.

At the end of the customer’s 12-month billing period, the customer’s account will go through an annual true-up process. 

CEA will review the customer’s total energy used and total energy produced by the customer’s generation system — both based on kWh. If the customer was a net energy generator, meaning the customer’s system produced more electricity than the customer used during the relevant 12-month period, CEA will calculate the Net Surplus Compensation (NSC) based on CEA’s current NSC rate as defined in CEA’s Rate Schedule.

At the end of each customer’s 12-month billing period, any customer with an NSC payment equal to or greater than $100 will receive a direct payment via check. NSC payments less than $100 will be applied to the next relevant 12-month period and accumulated until the total NSC reaches $100. 

Eligibility 

Eligible Solar Impact customers include: 

  • All SDG&E Solar Billing Plan customers who have renewable generation facilities such as rooftop solar. 
    • The facility must be eligible under SDG&E’s Schedule Net Billing Tariff (NBT) or similar tariff option(s), which may be amended or replaced by SDG&E from time to time. 
    • Each customer’s eligible renewable generation facility must: 
      • Fall within the capacity limits described in SDG&E’s Schedule NBT
      • Be located on the customer’s owned, leased, or rented premises
      • Be interconnected and operated in parallel with SDG&E’s transmission and distribution systems
      • Be intended primarily to offset part or all of the customer’s own electrical requirements