The CA-SFA program seeks to accelerate the equitable deployment of solar and storage systems to advance statewide decarbonization efforts and reduce electric bill pressures on low-income and disadvantaged communities, and California Native American tribes. With this new federal grant, California will strengthen current efforts, address funding gaps, and add momentum to new strategies under development to encourage deployment of distributed solar and storage systems targeted to the low-income and disadvantaged communities, and California Native American tribes as the state continues to decarbonize.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is the lead and point of contact for this multi-agency effort. Please see the CPUC Solar for All Program for more information, and general inquiries should be sent to the CPUC. The Energy Commission will administer a portion of funds from the grant award focused on the targeted communities in the Publicly Owned Utilities (POUs) service areas (referred to as CA-POU-SFA). This page will be updated with information about the CEC's portion of the program, such as workshops and funding opportunities as they become available. We encourage you to subscribe to the Solar for All email topic to stay up to date.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law by President Biden in 2022, created a $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and includes $7 billion for grant awards through the Solar for All competition. This federal funding is for states, territories, tribal governments, municipalities, and nonprofits to develop programs that enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from distributed residential solar.
On Earth Day 2024, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced 60 awards. The State of California was among one of the largest awardees, receiving just under $250 million to develop and implement new California Solar for All programs (CA-SFA). California’s application included a coalition of state agencies including the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the California Employment Development Department (EDD), and the California Energy Commission (CEC). Together, the coalition will leverage California’s transformation of the solar market to reach the homes statewide that are most in need of affordable, reliable clean energy.
CEC’s Solar for All (POU Territories) Program staff is seeking public feedback for the solicitation concept proposal prior to final solicitation release expected in late 2025. Additional items associated with this solicitation are included below.