EcoShare for Developers

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The Green Tariff Shared Renewables (GTSR) Program was created by Senate Bill (SB) 43, and consists of a Green Tariff (GT) option and an Enhanced Community Renewables (ECR) component.  These programs will provide customers, including local governments, businesses, schools, homeowners, municipal customers, and renters new renewable energy rate options. Through the GTSR program, customers are allowed to purchase renewable energy from new community-based projects.

This page provides an overview of the ECR component for interested developers, which is branded by SDG&E as “EcoShareSM." SDG&E is committed to ensuring all customers have access to renewable energy and look forward to working with EcoShare developers to help make this possible.

How Does EcoShare Work?

This community renewables pilot program opens up a new market for renewable energy providers. As a EcoShare developer, you will work directly with customers to develop new renewable energy projects in or around their community. Customers can acquire the rights to a portion of the new renewable generating facility and receive a bill credit from SDG&E based on the size of their renewable energy purchase.

Using a Customer Developer Agreement (CDA), developers enter into a contract with eligible customers for the purchase of renewable power that complies with program requirements. Developers will also sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with SDG&E, under which the developer will receive payment for any unsubscribed energy at the EcoShare facility. 

Developers who are interested in becoming a EcoShare provider must bid into a Renewable Auction Mechanism (RAM) Request for Offers (RFO). Please visit sdge.com/request-proposals to check for open EcoShare RFOs. 

Marketing requirements for interested developers have been posted. Please review the Developer Marketing Review Requirements section to begin the process of becoming a community renewable energy provider!

For more information on how EcoShare works, expand the sections below:

Subscribing EcoShare Customers must be physically located within the same municipality or county as the EcoShare Project, or within ten miles of the EcoShare Project, prior to the execution of the PPA (community interest phase). After the PPA is executed with SDG&E, subscribing customers may be located anywhere within SDG&E’s service territory.

 

  • Develop project plan or proposal.
  • Submit all marketing materials to SDG&E for review. Developers may not contact customers regarding their renewable energy project until their marketing materials have been pre-screened by SDG&E. More information is available in the Developer Marketing Review Requirements section.
  • Develop sufficient community interest. The following community interest thresholds must be met for a facility to qualify: 

    An “expression of interest” requires a signed document or submission of an online form using digital e-signature technology for each customer indicating interest in the project. Information required in the document includes customer name, service address, and subscription amount. 

    A “commitment to enroll” requires the same information as an expression of interest, and also requires that the SDG&E service account number for the customer be provided.

 

  • Residents or businesses meeting the applicable community interest location requirements (i.e. within 10 miles of the project site or within the same municipality or county as the project) must have committed to enroll in at least 30% of the facility’s capacity, or have provided expressions of interest in the project sufficient to reach 51% of the facility’s capacity.

  • Customers providing community interest must meet all eligibility requirements outlined in Schedule ECR. 

  • At least three (3) individual customers must have committed to enroll or provided the necessary expressions of interest. This requirement increases with project size (i.e. a 20 MW project would require commitments to enroll or expressions of interest from at least 20 individual customers). 

  • At least 50% (by number of customers) and at least 1/6th (by load) of the demonstrated community interest in the project must come from residential customers.

  • A guarantee of subscription levels from a third-party institutional customer, such as a municipality working to develop an ECR project in its community, satisfies the community interest requirement.

Expression of Interest form (pdf)

Commitment to Enroll form (pdf)

Community Interest Summary form (pdf)

  1. Bid into a EcoSharen Renewable Auction Mechanism (RAM) Request for Offers (RFO). Please visit sdge.com/request-proposals to check for open EcoShare RFOs. (note: marketing materials must be pre-screened prior  to submitting a bid. Developers will have 60 days from the notification of contract award to demonstrate community interest requirements have been met. It is highly recommended that interested developers complete the marketing review process and begin building community interest as soon as possible. More information is available in the Developer Marketing Review Requirements section.

An agreement between the project developer and each subscribing customer outlining the energy price and subscription terms related to purchasing rights to the electricity produced by the EcoShare renewable generating facility. The CDA must:

  • Take affirmative steps to protect SDG&E customers
  • Meet the minimum EcoShare subscription requirements
  • Provide representations, warranties, and indemnifications sufficient to protect SDG&E and its shareholders in the event of a dispute between the developer and customer.

SDG&E is prohibited from requesting pricing information contained in the CDA.

Direct sale of energy by the EcoShare developer to the customer is not permitted without a SDG&E PPA .