SGIP commercial battery storage: California budget status

Which commercial categories are closed?

The official SGIP tracker, displaying September 10, 2026, marks Large-Scale Storage and Non-Residential Storage Equity closed in the CSE, SCE, SCG and PG&E administrator columns. Equity Resiliency is also closed in those columns. Do not plan a new commercial storage purchase around an assumed reservation in those categories.

The table can show remaining funds for a closed category. That does not make the category open to a new application. Confirm an existing reservation and its conditions directly with the administrator; an existing project is a different question from a new applicant.

Residential openings do not establish commercial eligibility

The tracker lists separate Residential Solar and Storage Equity AB 209 categories. Some are open or waitlisted. Their presence does not establish an incentive pathway for a commercial building. For a residential project, use the residential category guide, the residential battery cost breakdown and the home battery guides. For a mixed-use or multifamily project, ask the administrator to identify the applicable category and customer requirements in writing.

If the project already has a reservation

• Find the reservation number, administrator, approved equipment and approved incentive amount.
• Confirm the milestones, documents and deadlines that apply to that reservation.
• Ask how a design, ownership or equipment change affects it.
• Separate the amount requested, the amount reserved and the amount actually paid.

This guide does not promise an approval or payment timeline. Use the project’s actual correspondence and current program documents.

Compare the battery without an assumed rebate

Start with installed cash price, usable capacity, continuous output and the equipment needed for backup. Evaluate the proposed operating schedule against interval usage and the actual commercial tariff. Demand-charge reduction, energy shifting and outage protection need separate assumptions.

Have the proposal show which demand peaks the battery can cover, its reserve setting, losses, warranty limits and replacement costs. Compare that result with a solar-only proposal where practical, priced against commercial solar cost per watt in California. Keep any conditional incentive outside the base case until the funding position is documented.

Keep incentive units and tax assumptions explicit

A rate per watt-hour is not a rate per kilowatt-hour. Match the program’s published unit to the approved capacity before calculating an amount. The same care applies to a quoted percentage: identify what price or basis it applies to.

Any interaction with tax credits or depreciation needs a project-specific review using current authority. This page does not calculate those benefits or treat them as cash already received.

Sources checked September 10, 2026

• CPUC SGIP overview and program resources
• Official program metrics and category status