Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has announced a new partnership with SPAN to introduce the SPAN Edge device, aimed at helping customers electrify their homes more efficiently and at a lower cost. The initiative is part of PG&E’s PanelBoost program, which seeks to reduce expenses for customers who want to adopt electric vehicles, heat pumps, induction cooking, and other high-efficiency electric technologies.
SPAN Edge is an at-the-meter device that manages home energy loads in real time. This allows homeowners to add new electric appliances or install electric vehicle charging stations without the need for expensive upgrades to their electrical panels or service connections—a process that can otherwise cost between $6,000 and $40,000 and take several months. By comparison, installation of the SPAN Edge device through PanelBoost is estimated to cost customers between $500 and $2,000.
Mike Delaney, Vice President of Strategy & Innovation at PG&E, said: “PG&E is committed to helping our customers electrify affordably while maintaining a reliable, resilient grid. Our work with SPAN aims to enable thousands of households to add electric appliances and EVs faster and without more costly panel and electric system upgrades.”
Arch Rao, CEO of SPAN, added: “Our partnership with PG&E is a critical step in making home electrification affordable and accessible. By deploying SPAN Edge at scale, we are helping PG&E customers bypass the traditional ‘panel bottleneck’ and accelerate the transition to clean energy.”
The company estimates that over 600,000 homes in its service area may require some form of electrical upgrade within the next decade due to increased demand from electrification.
SPAN Edge uses Dynamic Service Rating technology to adjust household energy use during peak times. This helps protect local transformers and supports grid reliability as California’s energy needs rise with greater adoption of electric vehicles and building electrification.
Feedback from electricians involved in early trials has been positive. One installer noted: “PG&E just made it possible to effectively have a 200-amp panel by throttling the loads in their house.” Customers testing the solution also indicated they would have chosen this approach instead of traditional upgrades if it had been available earlier.
The rollout builds on lessons learned from PG&E’s previous SAVE virtual power plant program that aggregated residential distributed energy resources for local grid support.
PG&E plans an initial deployment of thousands of SPAN Edge devices when PanelBoost launches later this summer. The utility will provide the devices as an add-on for customer meters; customers will pay for installation by an electrician as well as wiring costs for any new appliances connected through the device.
More information about PG&E’s electrification programs can be found at www.pge.com/electrification.
For additional details on this announcement visit https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pge-accelerating-home-electrification-for-customers-via-span-edge-302680486.html
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