CPS Energy is seeking partners to grow its community solar

CPS Energy is seeking business partners to grow its community solar program.

Following an open meeting Tuesday that invited local solar installers to come to CPS Energy’s headquarters and learn more about community solar, the utility launched a request for proposals Friday soliciting up to 50 megawatts of solar that it plans to utilize as community solar. Proposals are due by Sept. 18.

Community solar is a project where a solar facility is shared by multiple community subscribers who receive credit on their electricity bills for their share of the power produced. It opens the benefits of solar up to those who cannot afford to install solar panels on their own home, or to renters and residents living in multifamily housing who do not have solar as an option.

The move represents a significant expansion of the municipally owned utility’s foray into community solar, which currently consists of just over 6 megawatts of capacity. One megawatt is enough to power roughly 200 homes on a hot Texas day.

Today, about 700 utility customers utilize community solar, but CPS Energy said it had a waitlist of over 1,000. CPS Energy did not immediately respond to a request from the San Antonio Report asking how interested residents can join the waitlist.

In a press release issued Friday about the request for proposals, CPS Energy said it hopes to see “creative proposals, along with thoughtful approaches to serving the community’s low-to-moderate income customers.”

“We know that providing greater access to solar energy is important to our community,” said Jonathan Tijerina, vice president of enterprise risk and development for CPS Energy. “…This initiative will create opportunities for customers who have been unable to participate in traditional solar options in the past. This project also brings additional benefits, such as reduced carbon emissions, expansion of our solar energy portfolio, and a positive economic impact to the awarded vendors.”

Late last year, CPS Energy phased out its residential rooftop solar rebates amid concerns the rebates were subsidizing solar panels for more affluent CPS Energy customers who could already afford them.

The utility instead is seeking to grow its utility solar and community solar as a part of its energy efficiency program, known as the Sustainable Tomorrow Energy Plan (STEP). The STEP plan seeks to save CPS Energy 410 megawatts by 2027 at a cost of roughly $350 million. That equates to about $3.50 on a customer’s average monthly bill, which is roughly what customers already paid for the program.

Solar energy currently makes up about 7% of CPS Energy’s current power generation portfolio. The utility plans to add 1,180 more megawatts from solar to its portfolio over the next seven years, according to the generation portfolio mix approved by its board in January.

Earlier this summer, CPS Energy President and CEO Rudy Garza told the San Antonio Report he’s hopeful the request for proposals will result in 10 or more projects located throughout different areas of San Antonio, and the utility is especially interested in working with local partners.

“This has been a stakeholder-driven process from day one,” he said. “I could go out and get 50 megawatts of solar a lot easier than this. What I want to do is target these 50 megawatts in a program that actually works.”

The utility also hopes to secure federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, legislation passed a year ago by Congress that includes funding for clean energy projects, to back these community solar projects with the aim of making solar as accessible as possible to low-income families.

One of the solar installers who went to Tuesday evening’s public meeting was Big Sun Solar, which already has a community solar project in place with CPS Energy — a 5-megawatt project that utilizes panels built into arrays that also serve as carport rooftops.

Big Sun Solar co-founder and President Jason Pittman said the solar installer is interested in scaling up its existing community solar project and plans to submit a proposal to CPS Energy’s latest request to launch additional projects.

“I think it’s great that CPS is committed to bringing solar to their customers who don’t have access to rooftop solar through the traditional programs,” Pittman said.

Lindsey Carnett covers the environment, science and utilities for the San Antonio Report. A native San Antonian, she graduated from Texas A&M University in 2016 with a degree in telecommunication media... More by Lindsey Carnett