Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has named 57 organizations as finalists for its 2025 Pitch Fest, an event set to take place from September 23 to 25 at PG&E’s headquarters in Oakland. The selected companies were chosen from a pool of over 400 applicants and focus on areas such as climate technology, grid modernization, and wildfire resilience.
According to PG&E, the Pitch Fest builds on previous Innovation Summits and Pitch Fest events. The company aims to continue identifying and scaling solutions that address California’s pressing energy and climate issues.
“Pitch Fest is one of the most impactful ways we connect with the energy and climate tech ecosystem,” said Mike Delaney, Vice President, Utility Partnerships and Innovation, PG&E. “We’re excited to accelerate solutions that can make our grid safer, more sustainable, and more affordable — and we’re energized by the creativity and commitment of this year’s presenters.”
PG&E stated that up to $25 million in funding may be distributed for new projects before the end of the year. The company intends to collaborate with vendors selected through Pitch Fest to define projects, co-develop technologies, and integrate these solutions into its systems.
Funding for these initiatives comes from PG&E’s electric research and development budget under the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC), which supports California utilities in testing new technologies related to safety, reliability, affordability, environmental sustainability, and equity for customers. Other sources of funding could be available depending on project scope or alignment with other innovation programs run by PG&E.
The first day of Pitch Fest will feature a panel discussion with startup leaders who have previously worked with PG&E: Anukool Lakhina (CEO of BurnBot), Steven Chen (CEO of Treeswift), and John Taggart (President of WeaveGrid). Quinn Nakayama, Senior Director of Grid Research Innovation and Development at PG&E, will moderate the conversation focused on how entrepreneurs can build partnerships with utilities like PG&E.
Participating organizations will present their proposals in various categories including wildfire and forest management, electric vehicle and distributed energy resource management, customer electrification, customer resiliency, large load management, undergrounding efforts, and operational cost savings.
PG&E serves over sixteen million people across Northern and Central California. More information about the company can be found at pge.com or through their news page at pge.com/news. Details about this announcement are also available at https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pge-announces-finalists-for-2025-pitch-fest-57-energy–and-climate-tech-innovators-selected-from-400-applicants-302558023.html
