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This workshop gives the EPIC Administrators an opportunity to present their EPIC 5 Investment Plans and discuss how their proposed Strategic Initiatives, associated Research Topic Areas (RTAs), and proposed budgets achieve the Strategic Objectives approved by the CPUC in D.26-02-037. Participants will be able to ask questions and provide feedback on the proposed EPIC investment portfolios.
The Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) supports the development of new, emerging, and pre-commercial clean energy innovations in California. The CPUC requires that EPIC portfolios be designed to demonstrate ratepayer benefits in the form of equitable access to safe, affordable, reliable, and environmentally sustainable energy for electricity ratepayers. This program is funded by California utility customers under the auspices of the CPUC. EPIC funds are currently administered by the California Energy Commission (CEC), which administers 80% of EPIC funds, and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), which together administer the remaining 20%.
In its most recent EPIC Decision, D.26-02-037, the CPUC adopted a set of 13 Strategic Objectives for the EPIC 5 Investment period (2026–2030) to serve as clear, measurable, and robust targets guiding EPIC 5 investment plan strategies to scale and deploy innovation. The Strategic Objectives support EPIC's Strategic Goals, adopted in D.24-03-007, of Transportation Electrification, Distributed Energy Resource Integration, Building Decarbonization, Achieving 100 Percent Net-Zero Carbon Emissions and the Coordinated Role of Gas, and Climate Adaptation. More details on the adopted Strategic Objectives and Strategic Goals can be found on the EPIC 5 page.
Adopted March 2024 (D.24-03-007), these goals frame every EPIC investment plan strategy.
Cost-effective, targeted research to improve grid resiliency and stability for ESJ and tribal communities during severe weather events, hardening the grid and reducing the frequency and duration of long outages.
RD&D that supports planning, integration, scaling, and commercialization of innovation promoting 100% ZEV new car sales by 2035 and reducing pollution in disadvantaged and non-attainment communities.
Cost-effective integration of high penetrations of distributed energy resources supporting a renewable, zero-carbon power sector by 2045, including 7,000 MW of flexible load by 2030.
Rapid acceleration of cost-effective, equitable building decarbonization technologies to help California reach carbon neutrality by 2045, including a 3% (3.6% for affordable housing) annual electrification retrofit rate.
Identifying cost-effective opportunities for the "last 10%" of economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2045 through California-specific strategies for hard-to-decarbonize sectors.
Strategic Objectives are clear, measurable, robust targets that (1) address key gaps in critical pathways to California's climate goals, (2) focus on the unique role of ratepayer-funded RD&D, and (3) reflect the equity, emerging-strategy, and safety principles endorsed in D.24-03-007.
Use the filters below to see which workshop day covers each objective.
Accelerate innovation and deployment that reduces IOU cost of medium- and heavy-duty charging infrastructure and associated grid upgrades by a stretch goal of 50% by 2035.
Accelerate innovation to overcome obstacles to equitable transportation electrification benefits in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities and non-attainment air districts.
Support development of transparent, open-access grid planning tools that increase forecasting of intermittent resources, EVs, and flexible load, and inform utility operations for grid services.
Accelerate reliable, scalable approaches that reduce the all-in cost of whole-home electrification and enable demand flexibility by 50% for single- and multi-family buildings by 2035.
Accelerate strategies and business models achieving lifecycle cost-parity for hard-to-decarbonize commercial and industrial buildings and processes, reducing pollutants impacting DVCs.
Demonstrate technology, tools, deployment strategies, and business models for achieving 100% neighborhood- or community-scale electrification, prioritizing disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.
Conduct lifecycle and techno-economic analysis to identify emerging zero-carbon technologies with the lowest adverse and highest beneficial impacts on California communities, including DVCs.
By 2030, improve predictions of electric system operational climate risk, resource and demand forecasts under climate uncertainty, and coordination between weather observation and grid operations.
Support technology development and real-world testing for using clean DERs to reduce outage impacts, keeping critical loads powered and reducing restoration time for vulnerable populations.
Accelerate development of technology, protocols, and modeling to streamline interconnection and energization for DERs and new load, prioritizing disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.
Conduct analysis and real-world demonstrations supporting an evidence-based framework for the location-, time-, and performance-based value of grid services, usable by grid operators and DERs alike.
Accelerate deployment of replicable methods to increase circuit/feeder capacity utilization and reduce peak loads, avoiding costly grid upgrades through DER, EV, and flexible-load coordination.
By 2033, develop and demonstrate data, tools, and frameworks for more cost-effective planning and capital investment in grid hardening, reducing outage risk and social burdens of outages.
The four EPIC Administrators filed their EPIC 5 Investment Plans with the CPUC, identifying proposed Strategic Initiatives and Research Topic Areas (RTAs) for the 2026–2030 investment period. Each plan must produce measurable progress toward the CPUC-approved Strategic Objectives.
The Accelerate Group, as EPIC Policy + Innovation Coordination Group Project Coordinator, will facilitate the workshop under the guidance of CPUC's Energy Division. Select a day below to see its schedule, or add it straight to your calendar.
505 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102. A virtual attendance option is also available for all three days.
Please register to join each day's virtual session prior to the event through the following link. We kindly request that your register in advance whether you are joining in person or via Zoom.
Register TodayThis program is funded by California utility customers under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission.
This notice was sent to service lists A.21-11-021, A.22-10-001, A.22-10-002, A.22-10-003, R.11-05-005, R.15-05-006, R.17-07-007, R.18-03-011, R.18-04-019, R.18-07-006, R.18-10-007, R.18-12-005, R.18-12-006, R.19-01-011, R.19-09-009, R.19-10-005, R.20-01-007, R.20-05-003, R.20-11-003, R.21-06-017, R.21-10-002, R.21-11-014, R.22-07-005, R.22-11-013, R.23-12-008, and R.24-01-017. If workshop participants discuss any open proceedings that were not noticed, then any such discussions become ex parte communications, and must be noticed to the open proceeding according to Rule 8.4. This notice is issued pursuant to Rule 8.1 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, which states that an ex parte communication means a written or oral communication that "does not occur in a public hearing, workshop, or other public forum, that has been noticed to the official service list or on the record of the proceeding." One or more CPUC or CEC Commissioners and Advisors, and Administrative Law Judges may attend, but no official Commission action will be taken at this event.
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