About
The Big-Box Efficiency Project is funded by the California Energy Commission, in partnership with Walmart, Southern California Edison and the Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE), to evaluate the impacts of installing an integrated suite of precommercial energy efficiency technologies to an existing 24-year-old Walmart Supercenter in Southern California, with the goal of achieving greater than 20% savings in electric consumption at the site, in support of California and Walmart’s ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Innovative Technologies Details
California Senate Bill 350 aims to double statewide electricity and gas end-use savings from energy efficiency and conservation measures by 2030. This is equivalent to a 20% reduction in projected statewide building energy use. Meeting this aggressive target will require the commercial building industry to install holistic energy efficiency technology packages, specifically those that leverage emerging, precommercial products.
According to the 2013 Navigant California Potential and Goals Study, aging commercial buildings, particularly in inland communities, present the greatest energy savings potential. However, many building owners operate in a resource-constrained environment and lack the ability to perform the rigorous evaluation required to vet the technologies and technology packages that would provide deep energy savings.
Additionally, there are several California Public Utility Commission proceedings related to this demonstration project. Learn more below:
Demand Response Rulemaking (R.13-09-011)
This rulemaking enhances the role of demand response for resource planning. Corresponding Demand Response Program Applications (A.17-01-012) are reviewed in a consolidated proceeding to approve the demand response applications filed by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) and Southern California Edison Company (SCE) and resolve policy issues.
Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan Update and Action Plans (D.10-09-047) Rulemaking (R.13-11-055)
This rulemaking encompasses current energy efficiency portfolios through 2015, implements energy efficiency “rolling portfolios” and various relates policy issues and is used to inform energy efficiency planning through 2020.
Energy Efficiency Rolling Portfolios (R.13-11-055)
This proceeding is the most recent in a series of ongoing proceedings for policy changes and regulatory oversight associated with the energy efficiency programs of the large investor-owned electric and natural gas utilities, community choice aggregators (CCAs) and regional energy networks (RENs). It serves as the primary venue for overarching policy issues related to administration of the energy efficiency policies, portfolios and programs, such as recent decisions regarding custom projects and market transformation.
Integrated Distributed Energy Resources (R.14-10-003)
This proceeding considers the development and adoption of a regulatory framework to provide policy consistency for the direction and review of demand-side resource programs. The framework is envisioned to be a unified mechanism to authorize and direct the commission-regulated electric and gas utilities to achieve demand reduction and load shaping using integrated demand-side management resources.
