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Microgrid Incentive Program

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Microgrid Incentive Program

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Expose as Block
No

California’s investor-owned utilities (Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison) are preparing to launch a new program to help provide clean, local energy to communities that need it most. The Microgrid Incentive Program (MIP) is a competitive grant program providing $200M in funding to communities facing outages, power shutoffs, and other events driven by climate change.

Download the MIP Program Handbook to get started

Microgrid Incentive Program Can Fund:

  • Up to $14M per community microgrid project for management, engineering, and development costs, such as in front-of-the-meter batteries and clean generation resources
  • Up to $3M for Special Facilities related costs
  • Up to $1M for interconnection-related costs
  • Up to $25,000 for application development-related costs

Note: Applicants may also qualify for additional project funding through the following resources:

Funding Opportunities (ca.gov)
California Grants Portal
Governor’s Office of Planning and Research – Federal Grant Information 
Clean Energy Infrastructure Program and Funding Announcements | Department of Energy
Funding & Financing | Department of Energy

Due to budget reallocations in the 2024-25 California State Budget, the CPUC will no longer accept applications for the California Energy Access Grant effective June 15, 2024.

It’s important to remember that while these resources can provide a good starting point, they may not cover all possible funding opportunities. It’s always a good idea to conduct a thorough and wide-ranging search when looking for grants. This could include checking various websites, reaching out to relevant organizations, and networking with professionals in the field.

Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants include Community-based organizations, local and tribal governments, and third-party developers representing qualified communities.

To be eligible for the MIP, a proposed project must:

  • Meet at least one requirement in section A 
  • Meet at least one requirement in section B 
  • Meet all technical requirements in section C

For more information about program eligibility, please refer to the Program Handbook (PDF).

 

Letter A

Project must be located in one of the following areas:

  • Tier 2 or 3 High Fire-Threat District
  • Area that experienced prior PSPS outage(s)
  • Elevated earthquake risk zone

Locations with lower historical reliability The local or tribal government leadership may be able to justify other forms of vulnerability.

Expose as Block
No
Letter B

Project must be located in a DVC (one of four criteria below) within SCE service area, or power a critical community facility that primarily serves a DVC within SCE service area

  • Census tracts with median household incomes less than 60% of state median
  • California Native American Tribal Community
  • Community in the top 25% most disadvantaged census tracts per CalEnviroScreen
  • A rural area
Expose as Block
No
Letter C

Project must:

  • Be a Community Microgrid
  • Be able to serve a minimum of 24 consecutive hours of energy in Island Mode as determined by a typical load profile within the microgrid boundary

Project Resources must:

  • Interconnect on a distribution line that is at 50kV or below
  • Comply with the emissions standards adopted by the State Air Resources Board pursuant to the distributed generation certification program requirements of Section 94203 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations, or any successor regulation
  • Have aggregate emissions, along with non-Project Resources, no greater than equivalent grid power when operating in Island Mode
Expose as Block
No

Program Goals

  • Power critical services like fire stations, hospitals, etc.
  • Advanced climate resiliency technology
  • Provide reliable energy to disadvantaged populations
  • Inform future clean energy initiatives

Application Process

Follow the required steps below to start engaging with us on planning a community microgrid.

  1. Email MicrogridIncentiveProgram@sce.com  and request the Initial Resilience Consultation. We will email a fillable PDF for you to complete and send back.  
  2. Upon the completion of the Initial Resilience Consultation and if you want to proceed with the program, email us and request the Microgrid Technical Consultation. We will email a fillable PDF for you to complete and send back.  
  3. Upon the completion of the Microgrid Technical Consultation and when the application intake window is open, email us and request the Microgrid Incentive Program application form. We will email a fillable PDF for you to complete and send back. We will announce the application intake window on this program website when the program is open for application submission.  

Program Schedule

 October 2023   

 Publish Program Handbook and Program Overview 

 November 2023  

 Consultations With Potential Applicants Begin 

 July 10, 2024 - December 31, 2024 

 MIP Applications Submission

What Is a Microgrid?

As defined in the California Public Utilities Code, a microgrid is an interconnected, self-sufficient energy system within a clearly defined electrical boundary that can act as a single, controllable entity. It can connect to, disconnect from, or run in parallel with larger portions of the electrical grid, or can be managed and isolated to withstand larger disturbances and maintain electrical supply to connected critical infrastructure.

Microgrids provide energy resilience by disconnecting from the larger electric grid during outages and providing power to customers within the boundary of the microgrid, leveraging energy resources such as solar panels, batteries, generators, etc.  

The MIP provides funding specifically for Community Microgrids. These are distinguished by a few key characteristics:  

  • They serve multiple customers connected by utility distribution infrastructure. 
  • They typically utilize grid-forming batteries or generation resources located in front of the meter.  
  • They involve a partnership between a 3rd party Distributed Energy Resource (DER), CMG Aggregator, and the utility, as the grid owner and operator.    

If you have any questions regarding the program, please email MicrogridIncentiveProgram@sce.com. or view our Program Fact Sheet and Program Handbook.