Self-Generation Incentive Program - SGIP
The Self-Generating Incentive Program (SGIP) was established by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in 2001 and will end on December 31, 2011 (the program was extended twice, by AB 1685 in 2003 and by AB 2778 in 2006). The program offers financial incentives to customers who install up to 5 megawatts of on-site distributed generation equipment. The program, while not excluding residential customers, is geared towards non-residential customers because of the required minimum system size of 30 kilowatts.
Eligible for SGIP incentives are electric and gas customers of SDG&E, PG&E, SCE, and SoCal Gas. The four utilities also administer the program throughout their respective service territories. The CPUC established certain criteria that the energy generation systems have to meet, most notably that the system’s purpose must not be back-up generation of electricity. Rather, the system has to operate in parallel with the electric system grid. A detailed description of all program eligibility criteria can be found in the 2008 Self-Generation Incentive Program Handbook.
