Unlike solar panels which are installed on the customer's rooftop and are solely for the use of one household or customer, community solar is shared by two or more utility customers in a utility's service territory. In Maryland, the community solar pilot project will allow customers to buy a share of the electrical output of the community solar energy generating system. See also: How Community Solar works. (Source: U.S. Department of Energy)
You may subscribe to a community solar project that is located within the same service territory as your electric utility–whether you get your electricity from the utility or a retail supplier. See your utility's website for details.
A subscriber organization is a person or entity that owns or operates a community solar energy generating system; or the collective group of subscribers of a community solar energy generating system. We expect solar developers, non-profit energy assistance groups, homeowners' associations, community organizations, commercial businesses, utilities, retail electricity suppliers, etc., to consider applying to participate in the community solar program as subscriber organizations. Individual subscribers are customers who buy a share of the electricity generated by a community solar energy generating system and get a credit on the bill from their utility.
One category of the program is restricted for projects that must serve a significant percentage of low- and moderate-income customers. When you sign up for community solar, notify your subscriber organization that you are a low- or moderate-income customer and the subscriber organization will verify your eligibility.
Yes. Participating in the program does not require you to install solar panels on your residence. You can subscribe to get your energy from a community solar project in your utility's service territory.
Yes. You can apply to a subscriber organization if all your subscriptions (community solar and rooftop) do not exceed 200% of your baseline annual energy usage. Subscribed energy in excess of annual use will be paid out to customers at a rate that may be less than the subscribed cost. Customers should choose subscription levels that correspond to annual use in order to avoid loss of subscription value.
You only need to live in the service territory served by a community solar project. If you move within that same territory you can transfer your subscription to your new residence. Subject to the terms and conditions of your contract, you may be able to transfer your subscription to another eligible customer.
Bill credits will vary depending on your subscription contract (refer to your contract for specific terms and conditions). You will get a bill credit based on the amount of electricity produced by your share of the project. A utility may choose to apply the kilowatt-hour credit to each subscriber's bill as either a reduction in kilowatt-hour use OR a dollar credit to the subscriber's billed amount.
As with any business deal, READ YOUR CONTRACT CAREFULLY and make sure you understand and agree with the terms and conditions before you sign. There are several consumer protections:
Subscriber organizations are not allowed to use marketing tactics that are unfair, false, misleading or deceptive.
Agents may not market door-to-door unless they have had a criminal background check and have been properly trained in local, state and federal laws governing marketing activities.
In addition, there are minimum requirements for a subscription contract as well as a contract disclosure form that must be presented to every subscriber before a contract is signed. The PSC does not regulate community solar rates.
Other than having an active DPL account in good standing, you do not need to file any CEGS paperwork with DPL. The Subscriber Organization will include the Subscribers' information in the documentation it files with DPL
Yes. Having a subscription does not impact a customer's right to choose an energy supplier
DPL will apply the CNM Credit to the customer account number provided to Pepco by your Subscriber Organization
Look in the "Details of your Electric Charges" section. Your bill will list each CNM Credit on a separate line
DPL can charge an administrative charge if approved by the District's Governing Body. However, DPL has not filed a request to establish an administrative charge at this time
Most likely, yes. You will be charged for the energy you consume off the grid and standard Transmission and Distribution Charges, Customer Charges, and taxes and fees. Your CNM Credit may not offset all of these charges
Yes. However, your existing net energy metering generator will most likely reduce your historical annual energy consumption, which would reduce how large your total subscriptions can be
No. The generating equipment will only be required at the CSEGS Facility
No. All "net-metering" will be done virtually by applying your CNM Credits to your DPL bill 30
Yes. For each subscription, a customer will receive a CNM Credit on your monthly DPL bill
As many as a customer wishes, if the total CSEGS subscriptions do not exceed 120% of the customer's historical annual energy consumption
Contact your Subscriber Organization for details
While no new projects will be accepted into the program after the end of the three-year period, a subscriber organization can continue to operate a community solar project that was established during the program until September 30, 2044 or 25 years after organization has been authorized to operate – whichever comes later.
Solar developers, non-profit energy assistance groups, homeowners' associations, community organizations, commercial businesses, utilities, retail electricity suppliers, etc., can apply to participate in the community solar program as subscriber organizations.
A subscriber organization (which can be a utility, retail electricity supplier, solar developer, etc.) must first be granted admission to the program by the Commission–the application form can be found here. After receiving an ID number, the subscriber organization must then apply to the electric company serving the location of the project. The capacity of each project must not exceed 2 MW.
Not including the administrative users, each facility will be granted 10 active users.
To view a list of currently authorized users and to request the addition or removal of users, navigate to the User Access tab for the CS Facility you have selected. You will be presented with a list of email addresses associated with currently active users and the date they were added.
Above the list of users, a link to "Contact DPL" if the Facility Owner needs to update the information displayed on that page. Once the Facility Owner selects the "Contact DPL" link, an email message will be generated, and he/she can let the Utility Administrator know what user changes they want to make.
It is important to note that once a user has been granted access to a specific Community Solar Facility, they still need to create a DPL Community Solar "My Account" User ID and Password. The User ID for their "My Account" will need to be the same email address they used to gain access to the Community Solar Portal.
Once a user has been granted access to a specific Community Solar Facility, they still need to create a DPL Community Solar "My Account" User ID and Password. The User ID for their "My Account" will need to be the same email address they used to gain access to the Community Solar Portal.
For more information about how to create a Community Solar "My Account", click this link: Getting Started
The Community Solar Portal has been designed to provide a similar experience for contractors working within any of the Exelon Utilities; however, due to regulatory and customer information system differences, there are some things that have been modified from one utility to another. Since each utility's CS Portal is unique, each will require a separate login; once logged in, however, you will be able to manage subscriptions for all your facilities in that service area.
If you already have a "My Account" User ID that you use to login to your company's utility account online, you can use the same email address/User ID to login and navigate from your utility account to the Community Solar Portal within that website. For your convenience, we do recommend, however, that you create a unique Community Solar Portal "My Account" User ID, using a different email address, to provide direct access to the portal upon login.
To manage subscriptions within ComEd, BGE, Atlantic City Electric, Delmarva and Pepco, you will need to create a "My Account" User ID within each of those utility websites. You may use the same email address as your User ID for each utility when creating your "My Account".
The Enrollment ID is established by a DPL Administrator and appears on the facility's account within the utility customer information system. That Enrollment ID is also linked to the subscribers of a facility/CSEGS/CREF, to establish the connection between the subscribers and the community solar project(s) to which they have been contracted. It is used to ensure the generation credits are applied to subscribers of the facility each month.
Below are the steps to sell to another owner:
A subscriber organization may apply to convert all or a portion of an existing solar generating system of 500 kw or less to the community solar program—if that system began operating before May 15, 2016. After the end of the first year of the community solar pilot program, if a service territory has less than 2 MW of program capacity, existing projects up to 2 MW may apply to the community solar program.
Under this pilot program, multiple community solar projects owned by the same entity or affiliate cannot be located on the same or adjacent properties unless they are:
As many subscriptions as it wishes, if the total subscriptions do not exceed 100% of the CSEGS's generation output
Once an application is submitted through the portal, authorized users can begin to add subscribers, but those requests will only be processed into the utility customer information system once the facility/CSEGS/CREF is activated by the utility administrator.
To be approved for activation, the Green Power Connection team will confirm the following tasks are complete:
Yes. A CSEGS must have at least two (2) Subscribers
DPL will pay the Subscriber Organization for all unsubscribed energy. Compensation will be at the PJM Locational Marginal Price (LMP), adjusted for ancillary services
No. The CSEGS must supply all its energy directly onto the grid to become part of DPL's energy supply. The subscribers receive the energy virtually, through bill credits
A CSEGS can output no greater than 2 MW AC (alternating current)
Once the CSEGS owner has satisfied all requirements of the interconnection application process, including executing an Interconnection Agreement with CSEGS Addendum and providing an inspection certificate, and the Subscriber Organization has executed a CSEGS Contract with DPL, DPL will issue the CSEGS an Authorization to Operate. At that point, the CSEGS may begin generating the energy
Either the Generator Owner or the Subscriber Organization, depending on the contractual arrangement between them
