Achieving Integrated and Equitable Decarbonized Loads with CalFlexHub
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Recipient
Berkeley, CA
Recipient Location
9th
Senate District
14th
Assembly District
$10,422,297
Amount Spent
Active
Project Status
Project Update
As of December 2025, CalFlexHub’s demonstration portfolio is preparing to conclude its more than 20 projects at more than 100 sites. These projects have covered all building sectors: single-family, multi-family, small commercial, large commercial and college campus; more than half of the demonstration sites are located in census tracts that fall within the top 25% of the highest overall scores in CalEnviroScreen 4.0 (high CES score sites).
CalFlexHub’s technical leadership continues to create valuable learnings that inform demand flexibility related policy, standards, and programs in California. The CPUC’s recent decision on dynamic rate guidance was informed by CalFlexHub valuation and cost-benefit modeling methodology highlighting the importance of including non-marginal costs and alternatives for bill protection in dynamic rate design. CalFlexHub has also supported Open ADR 3.0’s continued global adoption and use in California utility programs; industry licensing for the EASYSHIFT price-responsive control developed under CalFlexHub; and adoption of LBNL’s Adaptive Load Scheduling Framework for developing load shifting signal schedules in utility programs (PG&E’s WatterSaver and SCE’s SmartShift Rewards). The project team also continued engagement with its Affiliate Program that allowed public access to prototype hourly-varying price signals hosted on the CEC's MIDAS server for testing signal integration and automated flexible load response. The CalFlexHub team has published over 30 journal and conference papers.
In 2026, the fourth and final symposium is set for early in the year and will focus on sharing aggregated project results and other lessons learned. The team will dedicate most of the year to final reporting and publishing additional papers to inform practical next steps for advancing price-responsive load flexibility.
The Issue
The current state of building and device technologies lack the flexibility, control, and predictable responsiveness needed for utilities to trust demand flexibility as a dependable grid resource needed to reduce or mitigate infrastructure upgrade costs and enhance electricity system reliability. Customers and devices do not consistently receive clear, common price or environmental signals, and many households lack reliable internet access—creating both technological and equity gaps. Even when technologies exist, customers often struggle to understand or operate them, reducing adoption and persistent engagement. Underserved communities face high energy and health burdens, lack affordable demand flexible technologies, and often cannot participate due to lack of signal connectivity and high susceptibility to extreme heat. The sector also lacks standardized criteria, field performance data, and cost-benefit analysis methods to determine which flexible load strategies deliver the greatest value and environmental benefits.
Project Innovation
CalFlexHub will develop and test demand flexibility communication technology with the capability of communicating price and dispatch signals to California consumers. CalFlexHub will research pre-selected, pre-commercial innovations to support the deployment of new, commercially available, signal-responsive products, refrigeration equipment, air conditioners, water heaters, heat pumps, HVAC and thermostat controls, plug load control devices, battery storage and EV charging systems, and other end-use technologies in residential and commercial buildings. When fully commercialized, these systems will enable cost-effective control to support load-flexibility and provide a clear value proposition for customers, building owners, ratepayers, load serving entities, and grid operators.
Project Goals
Value and prioritize load flexible technologies.
Foster investment in load flexible technologies.
Evaluate and understand customer interface and experience.
Mitigate burdens in disadvantaged and low-income communities.
Mass-market technology advancement.
Project Benefits
The CalFlexHub projects will improve the size of the flexible load, both in peak (GW) and daily (GWh) shift using several strategies, including integration of thermal storage into HVAC, allowing building end-uses to respond to time-varying price signals, and integrating controls across end-uses. The projects will help achieve California's electrification and decarbonization goals through increased use and market adoption of signal responsive and interoperable flexible demand technologies and strategies to enable end-use loads as electric grid resources. These projects will demonstrate the reliability and predictability of signal responsive demand flexible technologies that utilities and system operators can rely on as energy resources as California shifts to more intermittent renewable energy sources.
Affordability
Affordability
California IOUs have about 4–6 GWh of shift DR potential (per event) at or below $200/yr/kWh, growing to up to 8 GWh by 2030. CalFlexHub hopes to reduce these first and operating costs to $100/yr/kWh for 10 GWh/event by 2025.
Environmental Sustainability
Environmental Sustainability
The annual carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emission saving using the electricity emission factor of 0.331 kg/kWh totals to about 1.5 million metric tons of CO2e per year by 2030 from shifting load to times of renewable energy.
Reliability
Reliability
Aiming to support the development of technologies that could increase building peak load reduction from 1 GW to 4–6 GW by 2025, and 8–12 GW by 2030, and increase building stock shift capability from 100 MWh/event or day to 3 to 10 GWh/event or day.
Energy Security
Energy Security
The technologies from the Hub enable net load to follow electricity supply on the CA grid therefore avoiding/delaying the need for additional generation assets development and providing more time for a secure zero-carbon energy transition.
Key Project Members
Subrecipients
The Regents of the University of California, on behalf of the Berkeley Campus
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the Riverside campus
The Regents of California, San Diego
Energy & Environmental Economics, Inc.
Regents of the University of California, Davis
Olivine, Inc.
Guidehouse Inc.
SkyCentrics
TeMix, Inc
Extensible Energy, Inc.
WattTime
Humboldt State University
Harvest Thermal, Inc
Build Momentum (d.b.a. Momentum)
e-Radio
Rising Sun
Aermec
Argenox Technologies
Match Partners
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the Riverside campus
Regents of the University of California, Davis
SkyCentrics
Harvest Thermal, Inc
Build Momentum (d.b.a. Momentum)
Aermec
