Itron and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) are collaborating on a customer-focused pilot to develop and test an electric vehicle (EV) charging solution that manages charging loads in real-time with grid-edge computing.

The goal of the pilot is to lower the barrier for customers to charge their EV at home by avoiding the need for costly customer electric panel and service upgrades, PG&E announced at the PG&E Innovation Summit presented by DISTRIBUTECH.

“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,” said Mike Delaney, vice president of utility partnerships and innovation at PG&E. “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.”

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, PG&E said.

Itron and PG&E argue 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.

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