Innovation

2023 R&D Strategy Report (PDF)

Last year, we hosted 300 participants in person and engaged with more than 3,000 virtual attendees in our first Innovation Summit. Together with entrepreneurs, utility peers, policymakers, academics, national labs, and more, we explored the challenges faced by PG&E in achieving the goals of our True North Strategy: a safe, reliable, and resilient energy system for all Californians. The summit—along with the publishing of our R&D Strategy Report—represented the start of our journey to cocreate breakthrough solutions to those challenges with innovators across sectors. More than 20 novel solutions emerged from that effort, with many more to come.

Innovation Summit 2023 recordings

Welcome to PG&E's Innovation Summit 2023

Jason Glickman, Executive Vice President of Engineering, Planning and Strategy at PG&E kicks off the company’s first ever Innovation Summit on July 25, 2023.

R&D Strategy and Delivering a Clean Energy Future – PG&E Innovation Summit 2023
Quinn Nakayama, Senior Director Grid Research, Innovation and Development discusses PG&E’s R&D Strategy.

Collaboration on Research and Funding – PG&E Innovation Summit 2023
Heather Rock, Senior Director of Strategy (PG&E), Rob Chapman, Senior Vice President of Energy Delivery and Customer Solutions/Chief Sustainability Officer (Electric Power Research Institute – EPRI), Leslie Rich, Senior Consultant, Loan Programs Office (U.S. Department of Energy – DOE), and Ron Snedic, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development (GTI Energy) discuss rethinking innovation in the utility industry; creating relationships; sharing and understanding each other's ideas; fostering innovation for entrepreneurs and startups; collaborating and problem solving.

Patti Poppe, PG&E CEO interviews Elon Musk, Tesla CEO at PG&E Innovation Summit 2023
Patti Poppe, CEO, PG&E Corporation discusses PG&E's Purpose, Virtues and Stands and the company’s 10-year True North Strategy and is joined by Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla for a discussion on electrification, artificial intelligence, digital super intelligence, and meeting the energy needs of tomorrow.
 

PG&E, Schneider Electric, Microsoft announce DERMS at PG&E Innovation Summit 2023
Patti Poppe, CEO, PG&E Corporation joins Annette Clayton, Chief Executive Officer Schneider Electric North America and Darryl Willis, Corporate Vice President, Energy & Resources Industry, Microsoft to announce and discuss the development and deployment of the companies’ new Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS).

How to Participate in PG&E’s R&D Strategy Initiative -- Innovation Summit 2023
Dan Gilani, Senior Manager of Emerging Technology Strategy & Programs at PG&E details the process for organizations to collaborate with PG&E on R&D priorities through its Pitch Fest.

Breakout session: Ensuring Affordable and Timely Connection for Every Residential Customer
Explores challenges related to connecting residential customers' EVs to PG&E's grid, from both the customer and PG&E perspective. 

Breakout session: EVs: Unlocking the Potential of EVs as Grid Assets

Exploring how both customers and PG&E can capitalize on the full potential of EVs as flexible grid assets, increasing resilience across PG&E's entire system.

Breakout session: Undergrounding: Civil Construction and Scalable Solutions
Dive into PG&E's 10K miles undergrounding program and explore the capabilities needed to streamline the undergrounding process including site survey and subsurface mapping, route design and planning and civil construction materials and installation.

Breakout session: Future of the Gas System: Clean Fuels
Key areas of foundational research and technical innovation that are critical to navigating an orderly transition to the net zero gas system of the future.

Breakout session: Future of the Gas System: O&M Efficiencies
Key areas of foundational research and technical innovation necessary to increase safety and efficiency of the gas system while maintaining affordability and reducing emissions.

Breakout session: Integrated Grid Planning: Reducing the need for conventional capacity upgrades
Innovative solutions needed to maximize utilization of PG&E's current system in order to meet growing demand and support sustainable system growth.

Breakout session: Integrated Grid Planning: Optimizing prioritization and reducing costs
PG&E's efforts to support unprecedented growth across the system by exploring novel approaches to grid planning needed to optimize investments in capacity upgrades and maximize safe reuse of existing infrastructure.

Breakout Session: Wildfire: Situational Awareness and Eliminating Ignitions
PG&E's existing wildfire mitigation program and explore areas where current processes can be improved including inspections, maintenance, monitoring and de-energization schemes and situational awareness programs.

Breakout Session: Wildfire: Forestry and Vegetation Management
This breakout session explores PG&E's vegetation and forest management programs and cover key areas of research and technical innovation needed to create more targeted, holistic methods to minimize ignition risk.

Breakout Session: Supply and Load Management: Clean Supply and Energy Storage
Exploring novel clean supply and energy storage technologies necessary to support anticipated load growth while maintaining reliability and affordability across PG&E's entire system.

Breakout Session: Supply and Load Management: Expanding Load Management Capabilities
Foundations needed to support comprehensive load management capabilities at the transmission, distribution and customer levels.

EPIC enables PG&E, other California investor-owned utilities and the California Energy Commission (CEC) to demonstrate and deploy emerging technology projects that address developing grid needs. These include:

• California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) decisions
• Program applications
• Annual reports
• Workshops

PG&E Gas R&D Annual Reports

Download our Annual Reports to learn about accomplishments achieved through our Gas R&D programs.

PG&E Gas R&D Annual Workshops

PG&E’s Gas R&D team brings innovative technologies and solutions to our operations. These innovations come from industry, government and academia. Our work is prioritized in alignment with PG&E's R&D Strategy Report. There are three main areas of focus:

1. Maintain and increase the safety and reliability of the system while reducing Operations and Maintenance (O&M) costs.
2. Reduce methane emission from the gas system.
3. Decarbonize the gas system.

The scope of work includes natural gas and cleaner fuels such as biomethane and hydrogen. This is to support the decarbonization of the gas system. We are aiming for carbon-neutral energy delivery by 2040, in line with PG&E’s Climate Strategy Report.

To learn more, view the workshop recording below. You may also download the presentation.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company 2025 Research & Development Plan (PDF)

Wildfires pose a significant threat to California’s:

• natural resources
• public safety
• economic well-being

PG&E is working urgently to stop catastrophic wildfires. We are committed to the environment and the communities we serve. Our planned strategy includes undergrounding 10,000 miles of distribution lines.  

We are targeting the highest risk areas, where undergrounding will have the greatest impact. It will reduce ignition risk by nearly 99%. Undergrounding also offers many other benefits:

• reducing power outages
• improving overall system reliability
• reducing the cost and scale of vegetation management
• driving long-term affordability for our customers

Innovation is needed to complete this work on an accelerated timeline. We also seek to lower the cost per mile relative to today’s current state. Our remote, steep and rocky terrain presents a set of unique challenges which leads us to seek novel approaches.

Learn more about our undergrounding efforts

California has set one of the nation’s most ambitious EV mandates to spur rapid decarbonization. The state is requiring all vehicles sold by 2035 to be zero-emissions. EV adoption is projected to be the largest driver of energy demand in PG&E’s service area over the next 20 years. This expected increase presents challenges in infrastructure buildout. It also presents major opportunities in:

• optimizing energy use
• lowering emissions in the communities we serve

To capitalize on these opportunities, we are focusing on these challenges:

• decreasing the total cost of ownership for customers
• increasing access to EV chargers
• increasing public awareness on the electrification process
• ensuring commercial customers can connect their fleets in a timely manner
• addressing grid capacity constraints

We plan to encourage the adoption of 3 million EVs across our system. This will lead to a cumulative reduction of 58+ MMT of carbon emissions.

Learn about our EV programs

More and more, EVs include bi-directional charging capabilities. This technology could:

• provide valuable grid services
• reduce total cost of ownership

To maximize the full potential of EVs, we plan to:

• engage innovators to unravel the biggest blocks to EV proliferation
• open new value streams to support PG&E’s customers and the grid

Learn about our Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) pilot programs