In January 2023 I was invited by a California Energy Commission (CEC) analyst to moderate this panel for the Integrated Energy Policy Report (IPER) Commissioners’ Workshop on Electrification Market Outlook Workshop.

The event hosted panelists Sara Baldwin, Mike Roeth, Mike Sontag, and Gil Tal, experts in various fields within the aim of electrification – building infrastructure, transportation, electric vehicles, and more!

California has the 4th largest economy in the world, and is my home state; two big reasons I was thrilled to share my expertise and perspectives with the commissioners. In 2022, CA consumed ~270-280 GWh! It’s a massive amount of energy to consider and attempt to reduce.

I won’t write too much here about the outcomes of the event since I encourage you to watch the video (linked below).

My biggest take-aways were the following:

1. High cost of living (i.e. housing) is a detriment toward electric vehicle adoption. In addition, 44% of people in CA rent, and 42.4% live in multi-family homes. Installing home EV chargers is needed to improve EV infrastructure and promote EV adoption. The question is who is going to pay for installing these home chargers? Landlords? Incentives are needed.
2. Likewise, when it comes to upgrading home appliances and heating systems, incentives are needed to transition to electric only and heat pump technologies.
3. Under the IRA, it’s projected that 62% of vehicle sales will be BEVs. By 2033, 1/3 of cars on the road in CA are predicted to be EVs.
4. Better consumer education is needed for electrification to be successful within the timeframe CA has for the adoption of these technologies.
5. As Commissioner Shiroma said: “It’s an exciting time, and there is a lot of work ahead.”

You can view a video of the full workshop here along with an audio transcript!

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