Energy Commission Report Finds California Energy Efficiency Standards Highly Impactful - Commission Awards Funds To Expand Hydrogen Refueling Network, Energy Innovation

Recent findings of a review conducted by the California Energy Commission demonstrate that California continues to lead the nation and the world in energy efficiency standards.

The review , presented at today’s business meeting, compared California’s 2016 building energy efficiency standards to international standards set in 2015. The comparison, which is required of all states by the federal government, found the California standards saved enough electricity to power over 300,000 more homes than the similar international standards.

At the business meeting, the Energy Commission also awarded grants for a wide range of projects and technology, including the expansion of the state’s existing hydrogen refueling network, grants to support innovators, and grants to support the development of geothermal energy.

More than $17 million was approved for nine new hydrogen stations that will expand the refueling infrastructure network in California. FirstElement Fuel, Inc. will develop eight hydrogen refueling stations. Five of those will be located in Southern California in Huntington Beach, Irvine, San Diego, Santa Monica, and Sherman Oaks. The remaining three will be in the Bay Area in Campbell, Oakland and Sunnyvale. Air Liquide Advanced Technologies U.S., LLC received funds for a refueling station in Santa Nella that will connect the Southern California and the Bay Area stations.

The Energy Commission approved more than $1 million in grants for innovators and entrepreneurs working to bring early-stage clean energy concepts to market. Eight grants of $150,000 were the first-ever approved from CalSEED , which is the Energy Commission’s initiative to invest in novel solutions to energy challenges. The grants will fund a wide range of demonstration projects, including a new lithium extraction process, a high-efficiency electric power grid control device, and a light-emitting diode (LED) bulb that operates at a resistance level 30 times lower than conventional LED lights.

The Energy Commission also awarded more than $7 million in grants from its Geothermal Grant and Loan Program . Projects funded include using an existing pilot facility to demonstrate the extraction of lithium and other minerals from geothermal brines and the demonstration of satellite radar to observe deformations in geothermal fields in Southern California. For details on all Energy Commission actions taken today, see the business meeting agenda .