Customers enrolled in Pacific Gas & Electric's flexible interconnection pilot have been able to access the distribution grid for their required capacity during 90% of operating hours over the program's first two years, according to a program manager who spoke with Utility Dive this month. The Flex Connect initiative allows customers to receive faster hookups in exchange for agreeing to capacity limits when the local system faces constraints. Participants have experienced operational disruptions less than 1% of the time during rare periods when both grid limitations and high demand coincide, the utility reports.

The program currently serves five active customers and has approximately 85 prospective participants in the pipeline, according to Alex Collins, who manages execution operations and distributed energy resource management systems at PG&E. Most participants operate electric vehicle charging facilities, though the queue also includes smaller data centers, advanced manufacturing sites, and battery storage operations planning to enter California's wholesale market. Active and prospective sites typically range from 2 MW to 5 MW, with some data center and manufacturing applicants reaching 10 MW. Two participants have already completed the program and received full firm interconnection after waiting an average of 18 months, Collins noted.

Before Flex Connect launched, some customers faced one- to three-year delays for full-capacity firm interconnection, Collins told Utility Dive. During those waits, they were restricted to a fraction of their requested capacity at all times. The utility developed the pilot in response to customer feedback rather than regulatory mandate, though PG&E is now seeking to formalize the program under commission oversight. Early adopters have responded positively, returning with expanded plans once they confirmed the approach delivers results, Collins said: "It has unlocked something in their minds."

PG&E created Flex Connect after seeing a surge in new service applications that exceeded typical volumes and outpaced the utility's timeline for building additional capacity. The program addresses this bottleneck by letting customers connect sooner through an energy management system linked to PG&E's grid operations, which provides scheduled or real-time capacity limits based on available resources. A fact sheet for EV fast-charging customers describes a six-step process lasting roughly four to eight months from initial assessment to commissioning. One early participant, WattEV's electric truck charging depot in Fresno, opened with 15 charging ports at 240 kW and seven capable of delivering over 1 MW each, drawing up to 3.6 MW during most hours while long-term grid upgrades proceed. The facility serves as one of four freight hubs connecting inland Northern California with the Port of Oakland, part of a broader network linking to Southern California routes.