Itron, PG&E Announce Program to Support EV Charging with Grid Edge Intelligence
Itron, which provides energy, water, intelligent infrastructure services and more for utilities and cities, announced it is joining with California utility Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) to make electric vehicle (EV) charging more accessible and affordable for PG&E’s customers.
The groups on Nov. 13 said that as part of PG&E’s effort to modernize its electric meter network, the utility is working with Itron on a customer-focused pilot to develop and test the management of EV charging loads in real-time, with the goal of significantly lowering the barrier for customers to charge their EV at home by avoiding the need for costly customer electric panel and service upgrades.
“In collaboration with Itron and our EV solution providers, PG&E is working to give more of our customers access to faster charging at home through a safe and affordable alternative to panel and service upgrades. This solution makes EV adoption easier because customers can avoid out-of-pocket expenses and get faster Level 2 EV charging immediately, while keeping vehicle charging within safe grid limits,” said Mike Delaney, vice president, Utility Partnerships and Innovation at PG&E.
Typically, a Level 2 EV charger requires a 200-amp service to the customer’s home. A Level 2 charger is up to 15 times faster than plugging into a standard wall outlet and allows drivers to fill an all-electric vehicle from empty overnight. If a customer has 100-amp service, which is the case for about half of the existing homes in PG&E’s service area, upgrading to a 200-amp panel and service can cost customers thousands of dollars and take months to complete.
EV Connect Program
Unlike typical cloud-only software-based integrations that exchange information only a few times a day, the EV Connect program is unique in that it uses distributed intelligence (DI) edge computing that operates on a customer’s electric meter directly. This on-meter application connects to, and coordinates with, the customer’s EV charger to keep charging within their panel and utility grid limits. The combined solution enables a customer to avoid the cost of panel and service upgrades while still being able to install and operate faster Level 2 EV charging at home.
The innovative EV Connect program is the first of its kind and combines elements of consumer engagement, advanced edge compute capabilities and broad industry collaboration to provide a cost-effective, consumer-friendly, secure end-to-end solution that increases access to electric vehicle charging for PG&E’s customers.
“The EV Connect collaboration with our longtime customer, PG&E, illustrates the possibilities of Itron’s Grid Edge Intelligence portfolio. The utility can deploy additional capabilities to its existing Itron communications network to enable intelligence at the grid edge and help end-use customers avoid the financial burden and wait time associated with upgrading service panels and residential service conductors,” said Don Reeves, senior vice president of Outcomes at Itron. “This is just one example of the possibilities for distributed energy resource management enabled by Itron’s technology platform. By deploying grid edge intelligence, we can help consumers and utilities avoid costly upgrades whatever the source of the demand, such as thermostats, water heaters, appliances, pool pumps, photovoltaic inverters and more.”
The initial scope of the EV Connect pilot program will support up to 1,000 residential customers who currently own or are considering purchasing an EV and have panel or service limitations that prevent them from installing a Level 2 EV charger at home. PG&E will replace customers’ existing electric SmartMeters with Itron Riva meters, enabling them to immediately install and utilize Level 2 chargers available within the program. PG&E and Itron plan to launch the new pilot offering in early 2025, with larger availability in the second half of 2025.
Depending on learnings and the success of the pilot program, PG&E will evaluate extending the program to be broadly available on an ongoing basis. Itron demonstrated the EV Connect application at PG&E’s 2024 Innovation Summit on Nov. 13 in San Jose, California.
—POWER edited this content, which was provided by the PG&E media relations team.