Fuel Cell and Biogas Interests Hit Procedural Wall in Push to Double SGIP Export Cap

Commissioner Karen Douglas issued a proposed decision in R.10-05-004 that denies a petition filed by Bloom Energy Corp. to modify a long-standing export limitation under the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP).

The underlying 2011 decision (D.11-09-015) capped exports from SGIP-funded projects at 25% of annual net generation, reflecting the program’s core purpose of supporting on-site self-generation rather than wholesale power production.

Bloom’s August 2024 petition (filed nearly 13 years after the decision) requested that the export cap be increased to 50%, arguing that advances in fuel-cell and biogas technology, along with changes in SGIP program rules, now allow greater exports to provide resiliency and emissions benefits without undermining cost-effectiveness.