Utility Coordination and Programs
The utility runs on its own calendar. The application is the lever.
Interconnection, metering, export compensation, and program strategy for solar on new construction, across LADWP, Southern California Edison, PG&E, SDG&E, and California's municipal utilities. Filed in construction documents, pursued in parallel with construction, delivered with the Certificate of Occupancy.
Who Serves the Site
Four kinds of utility, four kinds of process.
LADWP
The City of Los Angeles is served by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which runs its own interconnection process, its own net metering program, and a Feed-in Tariff that purchases output from qualifying systems of 30 kW and larger under long-term contracts, with adders for qualifying carport and disadvantaged-community projects. The CPUC's net billing tariff does not apply.
SCE, PG&E, SDG&E
Investor-owned utilities interconnect customer generation under Electric Rule 21, with export compensation for new systems under the CPUC's net billing tariff. Larger systems and larger services may require supplemental studies. Nonresidential projects on these tariffs are treated as public works for prevailing wage purposes under AB 2143, with exemptions for small residential systems and low-rise multiunit housing.
City and district utilities
Anaheim, Riverside, Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale, Sacramento (SMUD), Santa Clara, Alameda, Palo Alto, Roseville, Modesto, Turlock, and many others operate their own utilities with their own interconnection processes, metering rules, and programs. The first question on any site is who serves it.
Community choice aggregators
In many cities a community choice aggregator supplies generation while the investor-owned utility delivers it and handles interconnection. Export compensation and program terms can differ from the utility's own, and we confirm them for each site.
Export Strategy
Build to the minimum, or build to the roof?
The Energy Code sets a minimum system size. On many new buildings, especially industrial and retail, the roof could hold far more. Whether that makes sense depends on how the serving utility values exported energy: a Feed-in Tariff contract in LADWP territory, net billing with an investor-owned utility, or a municipal program elsewhere. Storage changes the math by shifting production into hours when export is worth more or into the building's own evening load.
We model the options during schematic design so the developer decides with real numbers, and we design the service and the interconnection for the system the owner actually wants.
- Interconnection filed in CDsUtility review runs parallel to construction instead of after it.
- Service sized with the solarTransformer and service capacity designed for the generation, not discovered against it.
- Metering in the permit setNet generation output meters, disconnects, and utility equipment placed before the electrical room is built.
- Witness test sequencedScheduled with system completion so permission to operate lands with the CO.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is my utility and why does it matter?
The City of Los Angeles is served by LADWP, a municipal utility with its own interconnection process and programs. Most of Southern California outside the city is served by Southern California Edison, San Diego by SDG&E, and Northern California largely by PG&E, all under CPUC-regulated tariffs. Many cities operate municipal utilities. The serving utility determines the interconnection process, export compensation, and timeline.
What is the net billing tariff?
The CPUC's successor to net energy metering for customers of investor-owned utilities, in effect for new systems since April 2023. It compensates exported energy at values that vary by time, which makes storage and load matching more valuable. It does not apply to municipal utilities such as LADWP, which run their own programs.
What is the LADWP Feed-in Tariff?
A program through which LADWP purchases the output of qualifying solar systems of 30 kW and larger under long-term contracts at published prices, with adders for qualifying carport and disadvantaged-community projects. It is one of several options we evaluate for large roofs in the City of Los Angeles.
When should the interconnection application be filed?
During construction documents, once the system size and electrical design are fixed, so utility review runs parallel to construction rather than after it.
Discuss Your Project
Which utility serves your site changes the plan.
Tell us where the project is. We will bring the interconnection process, the export options, and the program terms for that utility to the first conversation.