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PG&E outlines automatic capacity evaluator; stakeholders press on monthly ICA refresh obligation
Summary
PG&E described an Automatic Capacity Evaluator (ACE) that will prescreen applications, standardize load calculations and capture outcomes for comparison to ICA results. Stakeholders used PG&E’s update to press the utility on whether it updates changed circuits on a monthly basis and asked PG&E to publish per‑circuit trigger dates.
Pacific Gas & Electric told the CPUC workshop it is building an Automatic Capacity Evaluator (ACE) designed to integrate ICA with the interconnection and energization application pipeline and automatically provide a project‑level prescreen.
PG&E presenter Gabriel (recorded in the transcript) said ACE will calculate standardized customer loads, compare those demands to ICA results for the requested location (including a multi‑year forward look), and return a pass/fail prescreen while recording application IDs so the utility can later compare ICA prescreens with formal engineering study outcomes. PG&E said the ACE concept was proposed in a January advice filing and that the company intends ACE to produce systemwide alignment metrics once deployed.
Workshop debate shifted to the portal refresh cadence and regulatory requirement to update ICA results for “change circuits” on a monthly basis. Stakeholders pressed PG&E and other IOUs to prove circuits changed by upgrades or new DERs are refreshed promptly on the public portal. PG&E presented historical throughput data showing the number of circuits published each month and an internal estimate of the number of circuits triggered for refresh. Several stakeholders said that figure was insufficient for auditing responsiveness; they asked utilities to publish an explicit per‑circuit “trigger date” and the subsequent publication date for the same circuit so third parties can verify whether a circuit was published within the commission’s intended monthly cadence.
PG&E said it currently publishes 300–500 circuits per month (depending on throughput) and that historical snapshots imply the monthly number of triggered circuits averages roughly 250; the company said it will begin reporting trigger dates so stakeholders can confirm per‑circuit staleness. PG&E said it believes its current cadence meets the commission requirement as written, while stakeholders said the plain reading requires changed circuits to be updated within a monthly window and asked PG&E to track and report the per‑circuit timing to remove ambiguity.
Why it matters: ACE would give customers an earlier, automated prescreen and would create audit data to evaluate ICA alignment with engineering outcomes. The trigger‑date question matters because developers rely on the portal for real‑time siting decisions; if changed circuits are not refreshed promptly, ICA users risk acting on stale information.
Speakers and participants include PG&E presenters Gabriel and Ravi; stakeholders Skye, Anthony, Brian Lydic and others; and Energy Division staff who described options for advice‑letter disposition and follow‑up.
No formal commission action was taken during the workshop; PG&E, stakeholders and staff agreed to follow up on trigger‑date reporting and on ACE advice‑letter disposition.
