Green Tariff/Shared Renewables Program (GTSR)

Modified Green Tariff (Modified-GT)

The Modified Green Tariff (Modified-GT) Program is a voluntary renewable energy subscription program available to eligible customers of California's large investor-owned electric utilities. The program allows participating customers to receive electricity supported by eligible renewable energy resources while remaining on their otherwise applicable electric rate schedule. The current program framework was established by Decision D.24-05-065 and further implemented through D.26-06-006.

Program Purpose

The Modified-GT Program expands customer access to renewable electricity without requiring onsite generation, supports development of incremental new renewable resources, and is designed so that only participating customers bear the program’s costs. This design prevents non-participating customers from program cost shifts.

How the Program Works

Customers voluntarily enroll through their utility and remain on their otherwise applicable bundled electric tariff. The utility then uses the Commission-adopted 'top-off' methodology to provide the incremental renewable energy attributes needed for the participating customer's electricity supply to reach 100 percent clean energy.

What does “top-off” mean? D.24-05-065 defines the top-off approach as the customer remaining on the otherwise applicable tariff while being “topped off” by the Modified-GT to achieve 100 percent clean energy. The topped-off portion of the Modified-GT must be supported by incremental renewable resources beyond other state mandates.  The subscriber demand should result in commensurate incremental renewable energy development. The approach is intended to reduce price volatility compared with requiring 100 percent of the customer’s supply to come from separate, program-dedicated procurement

Customer Eligibility

The Modified-GT Program is implemented by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison Company (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E). D.24-05-065 directs that eligibility be aimed at market-rate customers. The program is the market-rate renewable subscription option within the California Shared Renewables Portfolio; lower-income customers may qualify for separate programs such as the Disadvantaged Communities Green Tariff (DAC-GT)

• Who is eligible? Market-rate customers receiving bundled/full-service electric generation from PG&E, SCE, or SDG&E.
• Service-territory requirement: The subscribing customer and the renewable generation resource used for the program must be located within the same investor-owned utility service territory.  
• Utility-specific requirements: Enrollment procedures, account qualifications, available capacity, waitlist rules, and other participation conditions are governed by each utility’s Commission-approved Modified-GT tariff.

Program Features

• Voluntary participation
• Commission-approved utility tariffs
• Top-off renewable procurement methodology - customers stay on their otherwise applicable tariff and are topped off to 100 percent clean energy with incremental renewable resources.
• Cost-neutral program design - all Modified-GT program costs are recovered from participating subscribers.
• Utility implementation under Commission oversight, including procurement oversight through utility Procurement Review Group processes and cost oversight through ERRA proceedings.
• Annual reporting requirements / current reporting structure - D.26-06-006 discontinued the legacy standalone monthly and annual GTSR reports, annual forums, and advisory-board requirements. Current transparency relies on program metrics reported through DGStats (or a successor platform), continued status reporting through the annual RPS procurement-plan process, and ERRA cost oversight. D.24-05-065 identifies reportable metrics including project status and capacity, project location, subscriber information, participant usage (MWh), RPS renewable energy credits retired for participants, and remaining usage to be matched with program RECs. DGStats reporting is generally quarterly, with Energy Division authorized to refine the reporting requirements
• Capacity and customer subscription limits - D.24-05-065 established a 562 MW statewide Modified-GT procurement cap and a 40 MW cap for individual projects/customer subscriptions. PG&E, SCE, or SDG&E may request an increase to the 40 MW cap through a Tier 2 advice letter. The decision does not authorize the utilities to increase the 562 MW statewide cap through this Tier 2 process; changing that statewide cap would require further Commission authorization. (D.24-05-065, Ordering Paragraph 5(b)–(c).)

Regulatory Framework and Program History

The current Modified-GT Program is the result of more than a decade of legislative and Commission actions.

Historical Information

2016 Annual Reports:  PG&E, SCE, SDG&E 
2017 Annual Reports:  PG&E, SCE, SDG&E 
2018 Annual Reports:  PG&E, SCE, SDG&E 
2019 Annual Reports:  PG&E, SCE, SDG&E 
2020 Annual Reports:  PG&E, SCE, SDG&E 
2021 Annual Reports:  PG&E, SCE, SDG&E
2022 Annual Reports:  PG&E, SCE, SDG&E

Contacts

All submitted documents can be found on this proceeding's historical Docket Card Page for A.12-01-008 and A.22-05-022.

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