San Diego County is eyeing its own real estate as a way to cut power bills in some of its hardest-hit communities, and the Board of Supervisors is all in.
The board voted unanimously yesterday to direct county staff to hunt through publicly owned and leased land for small-scale solar projects that would specifically serve low-income and disadvantaged neighborhoods. The goal is to find sites that could plug into a state-backed program designed to knock down electricity costs for eligible households, according to the Times of San Diego.
Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer, who introduced the measure, framed it as a chance to bring clean, affordable power to residents who have largely been left out of the rooftop solar boom, the Times of San Diego reported.
How the Solar Advantage program works
The county’s move lines up neatly with San Diego Community Power’s spin on the California Public Utilities Commission’s Disadvantaged Communities Green Tariff, locally branded as the Solar Advantage program. The initiative is meant to steer new front-of-the-meter solar projects into communities flagged by CalEnviroScreen as disadvantaged, and then pass savings straight to customers.
San Diego Community Power says it has a 20.16-megawatt allocation for Solar Advantage and that participating customers can expect roughly a 20% discount on their electric bills for as long as 20 years. The California Public Utilities Commission details the rules and eligibility for the broader DAC-GT program in decisions and resolutions including D.18-06-027, according to the CPUC.
Lawson-Remer's pitch
Lawson-Remer, who also chairs the board of San Diego Community Power, argued that private developers are lined up and ready to build, but they need workable sites on county-controlled land to make the numbers pencil out. Her office said that “many solar developers want to participate in the Solar Advantage program, but struggle to find leasable sites on county-owned land,” a problem she wants staff to help solve.
Staff pointed to how sharply renewable energy prices have dropped in recent years, noting that utility-scale solar costs have fallen by roughly 88% since 2010, according to the Times of San Diego.
Why the timing matters
The timing is not accidental. The vote lands just as San Diego Community Power is wrapping up its second Solar Advantage Request for Offers and starting to notify shortlisted bidders, based on a schedule posted on the agency’s website. San Diego Community Power shows follow-up with respondents running through Dec. 10 and short-list notifications slated for Dec. 11, 2025, meaning potential county sites could come into play right as developers are being evaluated.
If county parcels make the cut, the resulting projects could add local renewable generation, reduce bills for qualifying households and support construction and maintenance jobs, with project size and customer eligibility governed by the CPUC’s rules for the DAC-GT program. Any leases, contracts or power-purchase agreements would still have to comply with CPUC requirements that set eligibility, size and siting criteria for disadvantaged-community projects, according to the CPUC.
The measure the supervisors approved does not actually greenlight any specific lease or contract. Instead, it orders county officials to map out which properties might work and to outline concrete options for bringing Solar Advantage projects back to the board for future action.
