– Advancing and Commercializing Energy Efficiency in California’s Industrial, Agricultural, and Water Sector (2021 ACEE Program)

California’s industrial, agricultural and water (IAW) sectors are as diverse and unique as California’s population and geography. By itself, California’s $3.1 trillion gross domestic product (2019 GDP) places it fifth among the world’s largest economies. For 2019, the robust and growing industrial sector accounted for 10% of California’s GDP. To produce the varied products and commodities that California is known for requires large quantities of energy and water. Available estimates indicate on an annual basis, California’s industrial sector accounts for over 25% of the state’s electricity consumption, 35% of its natural gas use, and is responsible for over 20% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). California is also home to one of the largest and most unique water and wastewater infrastructure systems in the nation – delivering water and treating wastewater in farms, homes, and industries. Current estimates have California’s wastewater treatment plants treating approximately 4 billion gallons per day, with an annual energy consumption over 1,700 gigawatt-hours. Given the scale of California’s IAW sectors’ energy usage, diversity, and significant contributions to California’s economy, it is vital to find solutions to help these sectors remain competitive in the global economy while helping to meet California’s ambitious energy efficiency and decarbonization goals set forth by SB32, SB100 and SB350. The IAW sectors have significant potential for improvements in energy and water efficiency but are difficult sectors to promote energy efficiency and to decarbonize. Each sector and the individual facilities each have unique operational needs, have a mix of old and new equipment, lack easy access to actionable operation data for decision making and lack verified performance data under real-world conditions for promising emerging technologies. The purpose of this solicitation is to fund technology development and demonstration projects of promising pre-commercial technologies to increase overall energy efficiency and reach statewide decarbonization goals set forth by SB 32, SB 100 and SB 350. Projects must fall within one of the following project groups: Group 1: Advanced Energy Management and Monitoring of the Dairy Industry; Group 2: Advanced Treatment Processes for Wastewater Treatment Plants See Part II of this solicitation for project eligibility requirements. Applications will be evaluated as follows: Stage One proposal screening and Stage Two proposal scoring. Applicants may submit multiple applications, though each application must address only one of the project groups identified above. If an applicant submits multiple applications that address the same project group, each application must be for a distinct project (i.e., no overlap with respect to the tasks described in the Scope of Work). Prospective applicants looking for partnering opportunities for this funding opportunity should register on the California Energy Commission’s Empower Innovation website at www.empowerinnovation.net