Name: The Council's EM&V Forum
Start: 2025-02-05T10:00:00-08:00
End: 2025-02-05T18:30:00-08:00
Location: Brower Center

Bringing together EM&V, data science, and implementation professionals from energy efficiency, demand response, and clean energy industries.
About this Event

The Council’s 2025 Evaluation, Measurement & Verification (EM&V) Forum

Date: Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Time: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, with reception following until 6:30 pm
Registration opens at 9:00 am
Location: In-Person at the David Brower Center, Berkeley, CA (No Zoom option)

EM&V Forum Topic: The Role of EM&V in Ensuring Affordability

The EM&V Forum highlights research and evaluation concerns and findings across the energy efficiency, demand response, and DER communities by bringing together professionals from consulting, implementation, regulatory and utility organizations to explore critical topics that are essential for addressing California’s clean energy policies.

AGENDA – Will be updated as speakers are confirmed! (Subject to change)

10:00 – 10:15 am: Welcome

Joe Desmond, Executive Director, CEDMC

10:15 – 10:45 am: Keynote Speaker: EM&V and the role it can play in achieving CA’s decarbonization and affordability goals

We need to think about how we can set up for success. Case studies that have turned a corner because an evaluator studied. What does the next 3-4 years of EM&V look like?

Jeorge Tagnipes, Program Manager Energy Efficiency, CPUC

10:45 am – 11:45 pm: Session 1 - How can we better communicate the value of EE programs to those outside our industry?

Ratepayer funded energy efficiency programs are under a microscope in California. Nay-sayers are questioning the value of these programs as California navigates a rate affordability crisis. With the industry’s historic focus on energy impacts, how can we change the narrative to tell the full story of the societal benefits of these programs? How can EM&V be deployed to collect and communicate metrics that matter to the state and to policy makers?

Jeana Swedenburg, Director, Opinion Dynamics
Moderator: Amul Sathe, Director, Guidehouse

11:45 am – 12:45 pm: Session 2 - Load Flexibility: Revisiting Settlement and Impact Assessment

Steven Lanziria

12:45 – 1:45 pm: Lunch Break

1:45 – 2:45 pm: Session 3 – Innovations in Equity Through EM&V

This panel discussion will focus on the evaluation of equity programs in California, including an update on the current state of equity metrics and a discussion of recent developments and innovative practices. This is a rapidly evolving area of practice in evaluation and an important element of programs for implementers and evaluators to track to continue to make meaningful change in California and across the country.

Megan Campbell – Senior Vice President, Opinion Dynamics
The Energy Coalition Speaker
Evergreen Economics Speaker
Moderator: Andrea Marr, Senior Vice President, Cadmus

2:45 – 3:15 pm: Session 4 - Emerging Trends: Insights into EPIC

Moderator: Abhijeet Pande, Vice President, TRC

3:15 – 3:45 pm: Networking Break

3:45 – 4:45 pm: Session 5 - Custom Review Project Continuous Improvement Process

The Custom Review Project (CPR) has been controversial over the years. Now there is a continual improvement study from the CPUC that focuses on increasing the value of the CPR process to CA ratepayers and to position the CPR process to continue to provide value into the future as programs continue to evolve. Cal TF has also launched an initiative on behalf of the PAs to streamline their project review process. The intent of both the initiatives to increase the number of eligible projects submitted through the CPR process, increased savings for custom projects which will eventually lead to increased realization of energy efficiency savings in California.

This panel discusses CPUC’s perspective, PA and stakeholders’ engagement in this process along with how implementers and EM&V communities are reacting.