What PG&E has learned in two years of flexible interconnection

Pacific Gas and Electric has spent two years running a program called Flex Connect, which lets large electricity users connect to the grid faster if they agree to cut back power use during peak hours. Instead of waiting for full grid upgrades to get a standard ("firm") connection, participants get a guaranteed baseline amount of power plus extra capacity when the grid has room. PG&E says sites on this program actually had access to extra power above their baseline 90% of the time over the two years.

The program has grown more slowly than PG&E hoped — it aimed for 10 sites online by the end of 2025 but reached only five — though the utility says its waiting list has expanded to about 85 sites being evaluated, many from repeat customers. Most of these are electric vehicle charging stations, since chargers are a natural fit for flexible power limits, but PG&E is also seeing rising interest from data centers and manufacturing facilities. The first flexible data center project, sized at about five megawatts, is set to come online this fall in the Bay Area.

None of this involves a program homeowners can sign up for directly — it applies to large commercial and industrial customers, not residential upgrades. But it points to how utilities like PG&E are trying to speed up grid connections generally, including for equipment that draws a lot of power, which could shape how quickly the grid can support things like EV charging infrastructure in your area over time.