Partnership Pilot
SDG&E customers can partner with an aggregator to provide Distributed Energy Resources (DER) as part of the new Partnership Pilot. Becoming a part of this pilot can contribute to a cleaner environment while also helping avoid or defer costly electrical grid equipment upgrades.
How It Works
The Partnership Pilot gives SDG&E customers the opportunity to enroll their planned Distributed Energy Resources such as rooftop solar, battery storage, gas-fired turbines, load reduction measures or other technologies with approved aggregators.
These sources of energy generation and load management allow the electrical grid to work efficiently and improve reliability (especially during peak periods). Customers that currently have or are planning to add DERs can be aggregated, on certain distribution circuits, to provide power that allows the utility to defer the construction of costly equipment upgrades.
How to Apply: Aggregators
SDG&E is now accepting aggregator applications for participation in the third and fourth cycles of the Partnership Pilot. These aggregator applications can be submitted in the second application window for the third cycle of the Partnership Pilot. The second application window for the third cycle of the Partnership Pilot opened on December 15, 2023 and closed end-of-day on January 14, 2024.
To be considered for the Partnership Pilot, aggregators must go through a prescreening application process. Prescreened and approved energy solution providers (aggregators) will be prequalified for two years and can reapply at the end of their two-year term. There is no cost to the applicant to apply for prescreening.
Prescreening Application Process
- Complete approval request: Download the Partnership Pilot application, fill out and collect all supporting documentation as requested in the application.
- Contact us: Email SDG&E’s Partnership Pilot Program Manager at [email protected] to receive a secure link for submitting the prescreening application and supporting prescreening documents.
- Review and contact: SDG&E will communicate the status of your application via the secure portal and provide any additional instructions if needed.
- You’re approved: You’ll receive a notification that your application has been approved along with any follow-up instructions. Approved applicants will have contact information posted on the Partnership Pilot web page.
Please Note: Aggregators that SDG&E approved for participation in the first cycle of the Partnership Pilot need to reapply for approval to participate in the third cycle of the Partnership Pilot.
Background
SDG&E’s August 15, 2023 Distribution Deferral Opportunities Report (DDOR) identified one planned distribution upgrade that SDG&E is offering for deferral in the third cycle of the Partnership Pilot. SDG&E submitted an Advice Letter to the CPUC requesting CPUC approval to launch the third cycle of the Partnership Pilot on January 16, 2024. The CPUC approved SDG&E’s request. The subscription period opened on January 16, 2024. Aggregators that were approved (i) during the first application period for the second cycle of the Partnership Pilot (which closed on August 14, 2022), (ii) during the second application period for the second cycle of Partnership Pilot (which closed on January 14, 2023), (iii) during the first application period for the third cycle of the Partnership Pilot (which closed on August 14, 2023) and (iv) during the second application period for the third cycle of the Partnership Pilot (which closed on January 14, 2024), can submit reservation requests to SDG&E.
Note that SDG&E identified one deferrable distribution upgrade for the second cycle of the Partnership Pilot. The CPUC has approved SDG&E’s Advice Letter requesting approval to launch the second cycle of the Partnership Pilot on January 17, 2023. The subscription period opened on this date, and aggregators that were approved (i) for the first cycle of the Partnership Pilot, (ii) during the first application period for the second cycle of the Partnership Pilot (which closed on August 14, 2022), and (iii) during the second application period for the Partnership Pilot (which closed on January 14, 2023), could submit reservation requests to SDG&E. In March 2023, SDG&E determined that the in-service date for the deferrable distribution upgrade needed to be advanced by 12 months, from June 1, 2025 to June 1, 2024. With only one year left to address the need, SDG&E closed the subscription window for the second cycle of the Partnership Pilot in March 2023.
SDG&E’s Pending Projects
Cycle 1 of the Partnership Pilot
On December 16, 2021, SDG&E received approval of advice letter 3895-E-A from the California Public Utilities Commission (CP1UC) to launch the subscription period for the first cycle of the Partnership Pilot on January 15, 2022. The first cycle of the Partnership Pilot was intended to defer a planned distribution upgrade on Circuit 832 which connects to SDG&E’s North City West substation. This upgrade was identified in SDG&E’s August 15, 2021 Distribution Deferral Opportunities Report (DDOR). Based on updated forecast information, SDG&E determined in March 2022 that the need for the planned distribution upgrade during the 2021–2025 planning horizon no longer existed. Accordingly, SDG&E closed the subscription period for the first cycle of the Partnership Pilot in March 2022.
Cycle 2 of the Partnership Pilot
SDG&E has completed its annual Distribution Planning Process (DPP) for the 2022-2026 planning horizon. The results were reported on August 15, 2022 in SDG&E’s Grid Needs Assessment (GNA) report and DDOR. The DDOR identified one planned distribution upgrade suitable for deferral through the second cycle of the Partnership Pilot. Accordingly, SDG&E requested CPUC approval, via a November 15, 2022 advice letter, to launch the subscription period for the second cycle of the Partnership Pilot.
The CPUC approved the advice letter and the subscription period for the second cycle of the Partnership Pilot opened on January 17, 2023. Beginning on this date, approved aggregators could submit offer reservations to SDG&E. Once sufficient reservations are received from approved aggregators, SDG&E will contract with those aggregators to provide services that will enable SDG&E to defer the planned distribution upgrade.
In March 2023, SDG&E determined that the in-service date for the deferrable distribution upgrade needed to be advanced by twelve months, from June 1, 2025 to June 1, 2024. With only one year left to address the need, SDG&E closed the subscription window for the second cycle of the Partnership Pilot in March 2023.
Cycle 3 of the Partnership Pilot
SDG&E has completed its annual DPP for the 2023-2027 planning horizon. The results were reported on August 15, 2023 in SDG&E’s GNA report and DDOR. The DDOR identified one planned distribution upgrade suitable for deferral through the third cycle of the Partnership Pilot. Accordingly, SDG&E requested CPUC approval, via a November 15, 2023 advice letter, to launch the subscription period for the third cycle of the Partnership Pilot.
The CPUC approved the advice letter. Accordingly, the subscription period for the third cycle of the Partnership Pilot opened on January 16, 2024. Beginning on this date, approved aggregators may submit offer reservations to SDG&E. Once sufficient reservations are received from approved aggregators, SDG&E will contract with those aggregators to provide services that will enable SDG&E to defer the planned distribution upgrade.
During the subscription period, approved aggregators provide SDG&E with offer reservations that indicate the amount of distribution deferral capacity that the aggregator is willing to provide. SDG&E prefers that each aggregator provide enough offer reservations to meet 100% of the deferral need. SDG&E will not accept any offer reservation that exceeds 120% of the deferral need.
Based on (i) the total budget for the third cycle of the Partnership Pilot, (ii) 120% of the required capacity for the third cycle, and (iii) the maximum amount of energy that may be needed, the following prices will be used to pay aggregators submitting validated offer reservations: _[redacted]__ $/kW Deployment Payment, __[redacted]__ $/kW-month Reservation Payment and __[redacted]__ $/kWh payment for dispatched energy. Prices have been redacted because the subject planned distribution upgrade is for a circuit that is subject to the CPUC’s “15/15” rules for protecting sensitive customer information. Contact SDG&E at [email protected] for information on how to obtain the redacted prices.
Offer Reservations:
The Offer Reservation Period is triggered when the aggregator submits an offer reservation and is specific to each offer submitted.
Once the offer reservation is received by SDG&E, the Aggregator has 15 business days to provide SDG&E with customer affidavits of interest that (i) demonstrate the amount of distribution deferral capacity the aggregator is able to provide, and (ii) indicate the portion of the distribution deferral capacity that the aggregator will provide from DERs that exist on the date the affidavit is submitted.
- Each offer reservation must list the approved aggregator’s name and a single kilowatt number for the duration of the contract Delivery Term.
- The aggregator has 15 business days from the date of offer reservation submission to provide SDG&E with customer affidavits of interest.
Approved aggregators interested in submitting an offer reservation should send an email to [email protected] requesting a secure Electronic Data Transfer (EDT) link in which to submit the offer reservation. SDG&E will provide the link to the aggregator upon request. Unless otherwise directed by the California Public Utilities Commission, SDG&E will treat submitted offer reservations and customer affidavits of interest as confidential information.
Attributes of Deferrable Distribution Project:
A description of the distribution needs that the deferrable distribution projects, if any, address are provided in the August 15 releases of SDG&E’s GNA report and DDOR.
The applicable cost cap and total budget for the third cycle of the Partnership Pilot were provided in the November, 15, 2023 advice letter.
DISCLAIMER: None.
For more information on the Partnership Pilot please reference the documents as included below or read through the Decision (D.) 21-02-006, which can be found on the California Public Utilities Commission website.
Deferral Opportunities
Information on the current status of deferral opportunities offered through the Partnership Pilot can be found in the Partnership Pilot Report. This report is updated monthly and specifies the amount of Behind-The-Meter (BTM) Distributed Energy Resource (DER) capacity that is contracted through the Partnership Pilot to defer planned distribution upgrades, as well as the cumulative amount of validated Affidavits of Customer Interest submitted to SDG&E by SDG&E-approved aggregators.
January 2023 Deferral Opportunities
February 2023 Deferral Opportunities
June 2023 Deferral Opportunities
December 2023 Deferral Opportunities
Additional Program Documents
For more information on the Partnership Pilot please reference the documents as included below or read through the Decision (D.) 21-02-006, which can be found on the California Public Utilities Commission website.