CalMTA has developed draft Advancement Plans for three potential Market Transformation Initiatives. The Advancement Plans describe the initial MTI theory and market research, field demonstrations, pilots, and other activities needed to inform a full MTI Implementation Plan specific to each market and idea selected.

Stakeholders may submit questions or comments by Wednesday, December 20.

Efficient Rooftop Units

Portable/Window Heat Pumps

Induction Ranges and Cooktops

We are adding to our CalMTA team! CalMTA is a program of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and is administered by Resource Innovations. Resource Innovations (RI) is a woman-led energy transformation firm.

Resource Innovations is currently seeking applicants for the following positions:

Energy Efficiency Senior Product Manager
Technical Writer & Editor
Program Manager, Market Transformation
Technology Analyst

Successful candidates will support the development of initiatives that will form California’s market transformation portfolio to deliver energy efficiency and decarbonization. There is a strong preference for California residents, but remote candidates will be considered.

 

The California Market Transformation Framework, created via CPUC Decision 19-12-021, calls for setting clear savings goals and other market transformation initiative (MTI) metrics to ensure a high level of accountability, and ongoing evaluation to reduce program performance risk. To ensure this outcome, CalMTA has developed a draft Evaluation Framework that describes the policies, principles, and high-level approaches that CalMTA will use to assess its portfolio of MTIs. The approaches are consistent with the Decision and reference the substantial existing body of literature on the best practices and lessons learned for market transformation evaluation.

Stakeholders may submit questions or comments by Thursday, Nov 2. A recording of the public Q&A webinar session, held October 19, 2023 is available here.

This memo provides an update on select market transformation (MT) ideas submitted during the request for ideas (RFI) process recently conducted by CalMTA. It gives an overview of the ideas that have advanced to Stage 2 scoring and discusses a preliminary review of the ideas proposed as “front runners.” As detailed in this memo, front runners are those ideas that scored well and are more fully viable for near-term MT development than other leading ideas because of product readiness, high leverage, or other defined criteria.

RFI Summary Memo

A significant step toward establishing a market transformation portfolio for California concluded with the close of CalMTA’s first Request for Ideas (RFI) on August 18. The market transformation administrator received 117 submissions describing innovative technologies and practices that will help the state reach its energy efficiency and decarbonization goals through market transformation. RFI submittals are now being reviewed and scored by the CalMTA team, with the highest-ranked ideas selected for further development as California’s first full-scale market transformation initiatives (MTIs). The first set of ideas will be shared at the public Market Transformation Advisory Board meeting on Oct. 13.  

Summary of submitted ideas 

RFI responses encompass a diverse range of technologies, products, services, and market segments. The majority of submitted ideas fell into the commercial (43%) or residential (40%) sectors, although we also received industrial, agricultural, and cross-sector submittals. Process loads; building envelopes; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); and domestic hot water systems (DHW) were the most prevalent load types addressed by submittals, with additional ideas focused on foodservice technologies and consumer products. 

Market response 

Stakeholders across California and nationwide showed great interest in the RFI process, with 63 unique submitters that included nonprofits, energy efficiency program implementers, consultants, manufacturers, utilities, and research firms.  

“We wanted to make sure the process was easy and accessible to anyone with a viable idea that could eventually become an MTI,” said Jeff Mitchell, principal of market transformation development. “The best part for me was meeting with submitters who signed up for office hours to discuss their ideas to increase market-level energy efficiency and decarbonization.”  

CalMTA held informational briefings with 32 interested organizations and distributed toolkits of easy-to-share RFI promotional materials to more than 60 ally organizations to increase awareness of the RFI. Two public webinars drew nearly 120 registrations. RFI submittal support services provided by CalMTA also proved popular, with 21 individuals scheduling office-hour meetings with our MTI team and 14 engaging with our online Q&A discussion board.  

Next steps 

An initial threshold review process will ensure that submitted ideas (1) save energy, (2) are commercially available or on track to be, and (3) include enough information to be scored. Top ideas will advance based on weighted scoring criteria that includes: 

• total system benefit (TSB),  
• commercial readiness,  
• estimated MTI cost/cost-effectiveness,
• non-energy impacts,  
• beneficial impacts to environmental and social justice (ESJ) communities, and 
• alignment with the market transformation framework used by CalMTA.  

Selected ideas will then be developed into Advancement Plans, which lay out the activities needed to develop full MTI Plans for implementation, such as market and technology research, pilots and demonstration projects, workforce development needs, and stakeholder engagement. The team will begin finalizing Advancement Plans for the first batch of MTIs in late 2023 and early 2024, as shown below. By the end of 2024, CalMTA will submit an application to the CPUC seeking funding approval for an initial set of MTIs.

CalMTA will develop Advancement Plans for additional MTI ideas throughout 2024 and beyond in a series of batches. Long term, the resulting market transformation portfolio will work to reduce energy consumption, promote decarbonization, increase grid health, and support equity and workforce development goals.

“There’s so much market transformation opportunity in California and I’m excited to see how MTIs drive long-lasting, equitable change across the energy landscape here,” Mitchell said. “These initiatives will help continue the state’s leadership in energy efficiency work and benefit the lives of Californians for decades to come.”  

Keep in touch 

To stay informed as CalMTA’s MTI portfolio develops, interested parties can register to receive email updates, follow the CalMTA LinkedIn page, and join upcoming CalMTA Market Transformation Advisory Board (MTAB) meetings, which are open to the public.  

 

 

CalMTA recognizes the historical inequities of efficiency investment and is using an equity lens in our approach to developing a market transformation portfolio for California that delivers benefits to environmental and social justice communities. In addition to California’s energy and climate goals, CalMTA seeks to support statewide priorities on environmental and social justice (ESJ) and ensure market transformation initiative (MTI) outcomes reflect the needs and desires of the communities they benefit.

Learn more about how we work with ESJ communities and our approach to equity.

UPDATE: V2.0 of the draft Evaluation Framework now available.

CalMTA has released a DRAFT of an Evaluation Framework framework that will be used to identify and manage a portfolio of California market transformation initiatives (MTIs). MTIs are designed to achieve sustained changes in the structure or functioning of a market by strategically capitalizing on market opportunities and reducing barriers to the adoption of an identified technology or practice, thus resulting in greater and accelerated market adoption to the point where the technology or practice becomes standard practice.

Evaluation is essential to the development and successful management of market transformation programs to ensure that these programs deliver reliable energy savings for California’s ratepayers and incremental system benefits to California’s electrical grid.

Read the Draft California Market Transformation Evaluation Framework

Watch Karen Horkitz, Senior Advisor, Market Transformation, present on the draft Evaluation Framework at our September 8, 2023 Advisory Board meeting:

With the hottest summer on record upon us, innovative climate solutions are needed more than ever. To support this process, CalMTA is seeking ideas that will accelerate market adoption of new or under-used energy efficiency technologies or practices across California. With just two weeks left to submit, this Request for Ideas (RFI) will inform development of a portfolio of market transformation initiatives (MTIs) to help realize the state’s energy and climate goals. MTIs will also help progress workforce development and equity efforts.  

While California has already made significant investments in energy efficiency, the CPUC established CalMTA early this year to introduce a market transformation framework that supplements existing efforts. Market transformation is a proven approach that creates long-lasting, sustainable market-level changes by removing barriers to adoption of energy efficiency and decarbonization technologies and practices. CalMTA is a program of the CPUC and is administered by Resource Innovations.  

Request for Ideas 

To identify the first initiatives, CalMTA will accept RFI submittals through an Idea Portal until August 18. The Idea Portal asks 13 questions to describe technologies or practices with energy-saving potential that face non-financial market barriers (e.g., limited market support, lack of supply, or low awareness) to widespread adoption. RFI submittals will be scored and prioritized based on established selection criteria.  

While the idea must result in energy savings, CalMTA is also interested in its non-energy benefits and ability to support benefits of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, demand flexibility, workforce development, and equity. For each idea selected to advance to the next stage, CalMTA will develop a plan for implementing it, and conduct a competitive solicitation of bids for its delivery. 

More information about the RFI process can be found on the CalMTA website  or in the recording of a public briefing held July 26.

What’s next?  

A dedicated CalMTA team will evaluate and score submissions to the Idea Portal for potential inclusion in the initial portfolio of MTIs. Top-ranked ideas will be determined in collaboration with CalMTA’s Market Transformation Advisory Board (MTAB), which advises CalMTA staff on MTI selection criteria, with feedback on ideas submitted, and tracking of market transformation activities.

Starting in 2024, CalMTA will engage with a broad range of stakeholders formed into Work Groups to further develop MTIs to achieve established energy, climate, and equity goals.  To join MTAB meetings, view upcoming events and register here. 

Stay up to date with CalMTA and join our mailing list.

Resource Innovations is seeking a Marketing & Communications Specialist to join our team. This position will be part of a dynamic, cross-functional team implementing the engagement and communication strategy across channels and platforms for California’s new market transformation program. CalMTA is focused on developing initiatives that accelerate adoption of emerging and underutilized energy efficiency technologies, services, and practices resulting in significant environmental and social benefits.

As a Marketing & Communications Specialist you will perform a range of tasks supporting outreach and communications for CalMTA. This includes supporting engagement and communication strategy across channels and platforms including social media, website development and maintenance, collateral development and maintenance, events management and promotion, reporting and outreach.

Join a friendly, dynamic, collaborative team.

Learn more and apply today

Since January, when the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) announced Resource Innovations as the state’s first-ever Market Transformation Administrator (CalMTA), a lot of behind-the-scenes work has been happening. Resource Innovations has staffed up CalMTA and has launched a key advisory board, known as the Market Transformation Advisory Board (MTAB). And now, the process of soliciting ideas to create the first initiatives in California’s market transformation portfolio begins. This “request for ideas” or RFI, which is open June 15 through August 18, is a way for everyone to participate in helping create market transformation initiatives (MTIs) for California. Once the MTIs are approved by the CPUC, CalMTA will lead a competitive solicitation to select the implementers.

Resource Innovations anticipates that the RFI will establish an arena to collect inventive and imaginative concepts, which can be leveraged to build a highly effective portfolio of market transformation initiatives in California.

Better Together

Market transformation is a proven strategic process of intervening in a market to create lasting change. In the context of CalMTA’s work, these changes work to deliver cost-effective energy efficiency and support California’s other goals on greenhouse-gas (GHG) reduction, workforce development, and equity.

 

Market-level interventions, which are a key component of the MTIs that CalMTA is developing, break down barriers to energy efficiency, such as lack of awareness, high costs, or low product availability. By creating a more competitive market for energy-efficient technologies and practices, market transformation can drive down costs and increase adoption, ultimately leading to greater energy savings and environmental benefits that remain long after active market interventions have ended.

CalMTA plans to align and collaborate with California’s current programs, utilities, and stakeholders to prioritize efforts that result in the highest-value market transformation, which delivers not only efficiency goals, but also decarbonization and demand flexibility. All MTI development will look specifically at how beneficial impacts can be delivered to environmental and social justice (ESJ) communities, which have historically been left out of efficiency investment.

Propose Your Idea

If you have an idea that will accelerate market adoption of a new or under-used energy efficiency technology or practice, then we want to hear about it! CalMTA is seeking ideas that will help California reach its energy goals and also advance state priorities for accessing hard-to-reach, low-to-moderate income customers, or disadvantaged communities. The Request for Ideas (RFI) officially opens on June 15, but you can learn more about the process on this website’s participate section or join the June 14 live briefing.

 

All ideas must result in energy savings but could also offer non-energy benefits and climate-friendly impacts that Californians value. If your idea is selected for advancement, it will then be developed into a plan for implementation. Once all the plans are designed and submitted, the process of bidding out the implementation will begin.

MTI development will be done in collaboration with the MTAB, which will provide expertise and unbiased, non-binding recommendations via public forums on the design, development, and deployment of market transformation initiatives.

Market transformation and energy efficiency are critical components of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, address climate change, and ensure a clean energy future for all.

A full summary of work to be completed by CalMTA this year is included in the 2023 Operations Plan.

You can find more information about CalMTA here, or join our email list to learn about meetings, input opportunities, and our work.
For more on RI’s MT capabilities, visit: resource-innovations.com/utility-services/market-transformation

Meet the Advisory Board

The newly formed advisory board includes representatives from investor-owned utilities, workforce development, ratepayer advocacy and environmental advocacy, as well as evaluation and efficiency experts.

Cyane Dandridge, Founder & Executive Director of Strategic Energy Initiatives

Hayley Goodson, Managing Attorney with TURN (The Utility Reform Network)

Fred Gordon, Director of Planning and Evaluation at The Energy Trust of Oregon

Jeff Harris, Chief Transformation Officer for the NEEA (Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance)

Randall Higa, Codes and Standards Program Manager and lead for Zero Net Energy Strategies at Southern California Edison

Lujuana Medina, environmental initiatives sections manager for SoCalREN

Peter Miller, Senior Scientist with NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council)

Christie Torok, Regulatory Analyst at the CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission)

Ky-Ann Tran, member of the CPUC’s Cal Advocates

This blog is by Margie Gardner, VP of Market Transformation, and was originally posted at www.resource-innovations.com/resources/ideas-action-catalyzing-market-change-californias-energy-future 

Market transformation is now launching in California under CalMTA. This on demand session covers the theory of market transformation and why it’s an important part of the state’s energy efficiency and decarbonization portfolio.

Resource Innovations, on behalf of CalMTA, filed an advice letter to the CPUC today to form a Market Transformation Advisory Board (MTAB). The advice letter includes names of recommended members as well as alternates from various backgrounds including:

• Ratepayer advocacy/protection
• Workforce and/or labor
• Environmental advocacy
• Evaluation professional
• National/Regional EE policy professional
• Utility EE representative (to rotate among the IOUs, on the schedule and in the order on which they mutually agree)
• CCA or REN energy efficiency professional
• Up to two CPUC staff

The MTAB is a core component of California’s market transformation framework and has an important role in contributing to the review and prioritization of the market transformation initiatives to be adopted by the CalMTA.

Read the advice letter including the MTAB Charter and proposed Conflict of Interest policies.

Learn more about the MTAB