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ACCEPT PROGRESS AWARD ALLOCATION FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SOLAR “SUNSHOT” COMPETITION AND AMEND THE FISCAL YEAR 2016-17 ANNUAL BUDGET
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RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council approve a resolution:
1. Authorizing the City Manager to accept the prize award allocation totaling $17,974.51 for the City’s participation in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar SunShot Competition and amend the FY 2016-17 Annual Budget. The funds are for energy efficient upgrades to the Permit Center or other city facilities; and
2. Authorizing the City Manager to take appropriate and necessary actions to carry out the purpose and intent of the resolution.
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Summary
On November 30, 2015, the Community Development Department (CDD) signed the teaming agreement to join the Northern and Central California SunShot Alliance (NCCSA) Team (Attachment A - SunShot Teaming Agreement). The team is currently participating in a national Solar competition organized and fully funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to encourage local government and private sector partnerships that streamline permitting and installation of residential rooftop solar systems. The goal is a seven-day, or less, timeframe from permit application to solar electrical meter installation (Permit to Plug In). The City of Stockton is a leading example of the permit to plug in time goal set by DOE. In the past three calendar years, the number of residential rooftop solar system installations increased from 97 to 2,267 annually.
DISCUSSION
Background
The SunShot Competition started September 22, 2015, and runs through March 17, 2017. Progress prizes are awarded to regional teams at certain milestones and the end of the competition. The final prizes are a $3,000,000 First Prize and $1,000,000 Second Prize based on the megawatts (MW) of residential solar power installed. All prize money is awarded by the DOE and divided among team members per our teaming agreement (Attachment B Amended SunShot Teaming Agreement) and distributed through PG&E as team facilitator. The NCCSA is made up of private sector partners, including: PG&E, Accela (Permitting Software), Qado Energy (Network Integration), SolarCity (Installing Contractor) and Vuspex (Remote Inspections). California law now reflects requirements for solar systems with 10 Kilowatts or less be streamlined through the regulatory permitting process. The DOE is encouraging local governments to play an active role in accelerating solar development, particularly through programs such as the SunShot Competition. The city is actively participating to meet or exceed these streamlining requirements. Stockton was the first municipality in the San Joaquin Valley to join the team behind Bay area partners City of Livermore, City and County of San Francisco, and the City of Berkeley. Subsequently other partners have joined including the Cities of Richmond, Antioch, Oakley, Fremont, Fresno, Clovis, Alameda County, Madera County and Atascadero. Partner cities within the team look for ways to streamline and improve the process which can then be applied throughout the respective jurisdictional Permit Centers .
To date, Stockton performed very well in the competition. The City of Stockton permit center reduced the solar permit issuance time to same day over the counter. During the first reporting period Stockton permitted and inspected over 50% of the total megawatts for the entire NCCSA team (1.15 MW at last report). CDD is now utilizing technology to notify PG&E instantaneously to install solar ready meters upon our inspector approval. All of this has made Stockton a leading example of lowering the permit to plug in time beyond the goal set by DOE. In the past three calendar years we have gone from 97 to 2,267 annual residential solar permits issued and are on track to surpass that this year.
Present Situation
This progress prize window has now closed for the current phase of the competition and our team has won a total of $100,000 which is divided among partners per our agreement (Attachment B - Amended SunShot Teaming Agreement). The City of Stockton’s prize allocation is $17,974.51 (Attachment C - SunShot Alliance Change Prize Allocation for Stockton). The overall competition concludes on March 17th, 2017 at which time the final prize allocations will be determined.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
The Funds will be released into Development Services Fund account number 048-1830-379. In addition, it is recommended that the FY 2016-17 Annual Budget of the Development Services Fund account number 048-1830-379 be increased by $17,975.
Attachment A - SunShot Teaming Agreement
Attachment B - Amended SunShot Teaming Agreement
Attachment C - SunShot Alliance Change Prize Allocation for Stockton