CPUC Community Solar Programs Prove Success Across California

CPUC Community Solar Programs Prove Success Across California

April 23, 2026 -

Have you heard the term “community solar”? Community solar works by allowing customers, such as non-profits, businesses, renters, and those living in multifamily housing, to subscribe to a portion of a shared solar array, often located within their community, and receive a reduction on their electricity bills. In California, community solar is delivering clean energy and lowering costs for customers that subscribe to these projects.

There are currently 1,200 community solar projects totaling 560 megawatts (MW) in operation across the state, with another 430 projects totaling 165 MW under construction. Approximately 125,000 residential customers and 60,000 commercial customers subscribe to these projects.

These programs include residential, commercial, multifamily, and local government and nonprofit solar programs. Most recently, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) streamlined and improved its market-rate Green Tariff Shared Renewables offerings and subsidized Disadvantaged Community Green Tariff (DAC-GT) and Community Solar Green Tariff (CSGT) offerings through the implementation of Assembly Bill 2316 (Ward, 2022). Together, the CPUC’s portfolio of cost competitive projects demonstrates that community solar is not only viable, but scalable in California.

Expanding Access and Equity

A strength of California’s approach is its focus on equity. Programs like DAC-GT and CSGT are specifically designed to serve disadvantaged communities. Under these programs, income-qualified customers receive a 20 percent discount. When combined with existing assistance programs like California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) and Family Electric Rate Assistance Program (FERA), some households can see their electricity bills reduced by up to half.

These programs are not only providing transparent and targeted subsidies to customers, but also advancing the CPUC’s Environmental and Social Justice goals by delivering tangible benefits to underserved communities, such as lower bills, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, job training, and local investment.

Celebrating a New Community Solar Project

An example of California’s success is a warehouse rooftop solar project in the City of Carson. The project is funded by the CPUC’s CSGT program. On April 30, 2026, the Clean Power Alliance will host a celebration marking the project’s completion and commercial operation, with participation from the CPUC, community leaders, and local officials.

The 1.32 MW project represents several important milestones:

• It is the first DAC community solar “urban infill” project built on an industrial rooftop.
• Hosted on a warehouse owned by Prologis, it demonstrates how underutilized urban spaces can be transformed into cost competitive clean energy assets.
• It is part of a broader partnership that will deploy 10 rooftop solar arrays across Los Angeles County. Beyond energy savings, the project has also created economic opportunities. Clean Power Alliance’s Power Share program has supported workforce development for more than 250 individuals, including 18 jobs created by this project alone. This highlights how community solar contributes not just to environmental goals, but also to local economies.

Upcoming CPUC Decision

The CPUC continues to refine its community solar framework. An upcoming proposal scheduled for the CPUC’s May 14, 2026 Voting Meeting would fully implement the Community Renewable Energy (CRE) Program previously adopted by the CPUC. The CRE Program is an additional community solar program that will be available to customers of all income levels, as well as commercial customers. The new program will directly benefit low-income customers since 51 percent of the subscribers must be low-income and receive a guaranteed electricity bill credit. The program will allow California to take advantage of federal and state funding opportunities for low-income customers by creating a mechanism to capture available funding for community solar.

Maintaining Momentum

Projects like the Carson CSGT installation show that community solar is not only viable, it is evolving, expanding, and delivering measurable results today.

California already has:

• Hundreds of operational projects delivering hundreds of megawatts of clean energy.
• Proven models for reaching disadvantaged communities with meaningful bill savings.
• Workforce and economic development tied directly to project deployment.
• Ongoing policy support and refinement from the CPUC. California’s community solar programs demonstrate that the state has a strong foundation, and a growing pipeline, to meet its clean energy and equity goals.

Related Divisions

• Energy