Itron is helping Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) make electric vehicle (EV) charging more accessible and affordable for its customers.

As part of exploring ways to modernise its electric meter network, PG&E 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 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,” said Mike Delaney, vice president at PG&E. “This makes EV adoption easier because customers can avoid out-of-pocket expenses and get faster level-two EV charging immediately, while keeping vehicle charging within safe grid limits.”

Typically, a level-two EV charger requires a 200A service to the user’s home. A level-two 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 user has 100A service, which is the case for about half of the existing homes in PG&E’s service area, upgrading to a 200A panel and service can cost thousands of dollars and take months to complete.

Unlike typical cloud-only software-based integrations that exchange information only a few times a day, the EV Connect programme uses distributed intelligence (DI) edge computing that operates on an electric meter directly. This on-meter application connects to, and coordinates with, the user’s EV charger to keep charging within their panel and utility grid limits. The combination enables a user to avoid the cost of panel and service upgrades while still being able to install and operate faster level-two EV charging at home.

The EV Connect programme is the first of its kind and combines elements of consumer engagement, edge compute capabilities and industry collaboration to provide a cost-effective, consumer-friendly, secure end-to-end option 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,” said Don Reeves, senior vice president at Itron (na.itron.com). “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. 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 will support up to 1000 residential users who currently own or are considering purchasing an EV and have panel or service limitations that prevent them from installing a level-two EV charger at home. PG&E will replace existing electric smart meters with Itron Riva meters, enabling them to install and use level-two chargers available within the programme immediately. PG&E and Itron plan to launch the pilot offering in early 2025, with larger availability in the second half of 2025.

Depending on learnings and the success of the pilot, PG&E (pge.com) will evaluate extending the programme to be broadly available on an ongoing basis.