The “at-the-meter” grid technology device SPAN Edge is now accepted for customer use by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).
SPAN Edge enables real-time load management and allows homes to add new electric appliances or EV charging without costly electric panel or service upgrades — addressing one of the most significant barriers to residential electrification.
PG&E will deploy the new SPAN Edge devices coupled with next-generation metering infrastructure through its new PanelBoost program, designed to reduce upgrade costs for customers adopting EVs, heat pumps, induction cooking and other high-efficiency electric technologies. PG&E estimates that more than 600,000 homes in PG&E’s service area are likely to require some type of electric service upgrade in the next decade to meet electrification demand.
“PG&E is committed to helping our customers electrify affordably while maintaining a reliable, resilient grid,” said Mike Delaney, Vice President of Strategy & Innovation, PG&E. “Our work with SPAN aims to enable thousands of households to add electric appliances and EVs faster and without more costly panel and electric system upgrades.”
PG&E joins a growing list of energy companies and grid partners, including Landis+Gyr, utilizing SPAN Edge to enable affordable customer electrification, manage distribution system upgrades and support the clean energy transition.
“Our partnership with PG&E is a critical step in making home electrification affordable and accessible,” said Arch Rao, CEO of SPAN. “By deploying SPAN Edge at scale, we are helping PG&E customers bypass the traditional ‘panel bottleneck’ and accelerate the transition to clean energy.”
SPAN Edge uses a “Dynamic Service Rating” capability to shape home energy demand during peak events, helping protect local electric transformers and maintain grid reliability. This technology complements PG&E’s broader grid edge, R&D and innovation strategy to develop and deploy scalable smart-panel and meter-socket-based solutions to avoid expensive service upgrades for customers.
Electricians and installers participating in early PanelBoost feedback sessions praised the program for helping customers avoid electric panel service upgrades.
“PG&E just made it possible to effectively have a 200-amp panel by throttling the loads in their house,” one installer noted. Customer testers echoed this sentiment, with several indicating they would have used this pathway before pursuing traditional upgrade work.
SPAN Edge devices are installed quickly at the electric meter. They offer utilities a reliable, flexible load-shaping tool and give customers a lower-cost path to electrification — avoiding service upgrades that can cost $6,000 to $40,000 and take months to complete. In comparison, the cost estimate for a customer to have an electrician to install a SPAN Edge device through PanelBoost could be between $500 and $2,000 dependent on a range of factors.
Through PanelBoost, PG&E will supply the SPAN Edge device for customers as an add-on to their electric meter, and customers will be responsible for the costs for an electrician to install the device and for costs to wire any new appliances and loads connecting to the device. PG&E plans to launch a website with more information about the SPAN Edge PanelBoost offering in summer 2026.
News item from PG&E
