A Co-Produced Climate Data and Analytics Platform to Support California's Electricity Resilience Investments
Providing customized data, advanced analytics, and powerful cloud computing resources to support climate-informed planning, research, and electricity sector resilience.
Eagle Rock Analytics, Inc.
Recipient
Sacramento, CA
Recipient Location
8th
Senate District
10th
Assembly District
$2,047,618
Amount Spent
Completed
Project Status
Project Result
Throughout the past few years, the Cal-Adapt Analytics Engine team regularly worked with three electricity IOUs to provide direct support for vulnerability assessments (CAVAs), enable IOUs use of data leveraged by the Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR), and facilitate communication and learning about the use of climate data in energy sector planning. The Cal-Adapt Analytics Engine (https://analytics.cal-adapt.org/) also provides crucial data and analytical products in support of CEC's demand forecasting activities and EPIC-funded research that investigates resilience and reliability issues related to California’s grid in transition to SB 100 goals.
These efforts built on five data applications that were prioritized through intensive, sustained stakeholder engagement that began in 2021, namely:
1. Development of threshold-based analytics for asset vulnerability assessment and design standard development.
2. Delivery of “hourly climate profiles” (for future time periods) as inputs into production cost, energy load forecasting, and other models.
3. Distribution of extreme temperature events to inform peak load, demand forecasts, and other applications.
4. Climate metrics and analytics to support long-range wildfire planning and management (in collaboration with other EPIC work)
5. Examination of climate impacts on zero-carbon electricity generation and system operation.
Beyond these efforts, the team developed 8760 capacity. 8760s are a type of data product showcasing each hour in a year and the potential climate projections for future scenarios to help support energy sector planning. This included novel 1-in-x 8760s allowing for IOUs and other energy stakeholders to examine a 1-in-10 year or 1-in-20 year event during a standard year and what the potential impacts might be.
The team hosted a final Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting in January 2026, sharing how the Cal-Adapt Analytics Engine development under this award relates to other grants that contribute to the Cal-Adapt enterprise and seeking TAC member feedback on the challenges and applications for which the Analytics Engine could be used by more energy sector users. The Final Report has been submitted and is under CEC review. The project ended March 31, 2026.
The Issue
A warmer and more variable climate has challenged the reliability and safety of California's electricity grid and has contributed to, for example, rolling blackouts and public safety power shut offs. Efforts to make California's increasingly renewable grid more resilient to further climate change requires actionable information that directly supports planning and decision making. Despite scientific advances improving the ability of models to describe regional impacts of climate change, the "last mile" challenge of translating scientific data to actionable, impactful information for planning requires ongoing effort to address remaining gaps related to foundational data and analytics; to enable coordinated planning at low cost to ratepayers; and to advance data-driven approaches to planning, investing in, and operating California’s increasingly renewable grid.
Project Innovation
The Cal-Adapt: Analytics Engine guides users to customized and curated localized climate data to make informed decisions based on the best science to improve electricity sector resilience. This platform provides users with customized data, advanced analytics, and powerful cloud computing resources, allowing users to perform high-level analysis without needing to download massive localized climate datasets. Novel next-generation analytics provides users with assessments of a range of possible outcomes, enhanced through metrics that convert climate data into electricity sector specific formulations and direct users to the most relevant scenarios for their specific applications. The cloud-based data platform delivers unprecedented computational resources to users, pre-loaded with capacity for the transformation of climate data into stakeholder identified formats, with supporting analytics guiding users to best practices and solutions for specific contexts. Continual outreach focused on educating and supporting users of the data platform.
Project Goals
Create a decision support tool for energy stakeholders, providing data, analytical capabilities and scientific leadership.
Project Benefits
This Agreement will result in the ratepayer benefits of greater electricity reliability, increased safety, and lowered costs.
Reliability
Reliability
Stakeholder-informed use cases allow IOUs to plan for and make scientifically informed investments that target resources toward building a grid that is more reliable in the face of future climate extremes (e.g., reduced brownouts associated with extreme heat events).
Safety
Safety
Stakeholder-informed use cases allow IOUs to plan for and make scientifically informed investments that target resources toward building a grid that is safer in the face of future climate extremes.
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 Los Angeles Campus
Spatial Informatics Group, LLC
Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc.
Match Partners
Amazon Web Services
