Electrical Program Investment Charge (EPIC)

Project Specifications

Client: California Energy Commission

Location: Sacramento County

Services: Environmental Review & Permitting, Client Support. Planning & Public Policy

Aspen provided technical support to the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Energy Research and Development Division’s (ERDD) Electrical Program Investment Charge (EPIC) Program.  The CEC’s EPIC program invests in scientific and technological research to accelerate the transformation of the electricity sector to meet the state’s energy and climate goals. EPIC-funded research is helping to expand renewable energy, build a safe and resilient electricity system, advance electric technologies, decentralize the electric grid, improve the affordability and health of California’s communities, as well as support local economies and businesses.

For the past five years, Aspen has helped the CEC evaluate the technical and CEQA adequacy of over 900 separate proposals submitted in response to 31 competitive research and development grant offers issued by the CEC. In addition to conducting the technical reviews of the 31 grant proposals, Aspen has also provided technical editing and Americans Disability Act (ADA) compliance services to assist the ERDD’s publishing team on over 120 reports.

The following is a list of grant tops evaluated by Aspen in the 2015-2022 contract:

• Cost effectiveness of Hydro, Geothermal, and Wind Energy

• Energy Efficient Technology Demonstrations

• Renewable Generation Market

• Wind Energy Technologies

• Energy Use and Costs in the Industrial, Agricultural and Water Sectors

• Clean Energy Technology Adoption

• Enabling Solar as a Distribution Asset

• Microgrids in Support of California’s Energy and GHG Policies

• Solar as a Distribution Asset

• Modeling Tools to Evaluate Distributed Energy Resources

• Biomass-to-Energy Systems for the Forest and Food Waste Sectors

The following programs are being added to Aspen’s newly awarded EPIC contract:

• Clean Hydrogen Program

• Community Energy Resilience Investment (CERI) Program

• Carbon Removal Innovation Support Program (CRISP)

• Industrial Decarbonization and Improvement of Grid Operations (INDIGO)

• Climate Innovation Program

• Staff Workshop on Food Production Investment Program