e-Lab Accelerator

Accelerator is e^–Lab’s project bootcamp; advancing the work of ground-breaking teams whose projects’ success are critical to advancing the clean energy transition.

What Happens at e^-Lab Accelerator?

Learn about the support RMI provides teams through Accelerator and why it is a unique effort within the electricity sector.

This Year's Topics

Regulatory and utility business model reform:
Projects to update utility regulations and create new utility business models that accelerate the transformation to a low-carbon energy system.

State-level and regional clean energy planning and implementation:
Projects to support state-level and regional clean energy or decarbonization policy goals.

System-level planning, resource procurement, and utilization for a low-carbon power sector:
Projects that drive decarbonization of the grid while meeting emerging transmission, distribution, and generation needs.

Transitioning away from legacy assets:
Projects to facilitate a swift and equitable transition away from carbon-intensive power generation to non-emitting resources.

Electrification of buildings:
City-, state-, and utility-level policies, regulatory solutions, or technologies that help scale widespread transition of homes and businesses off of fossil fuels for space and water heating and other end uses toward the efficient use of low-carbon electricity, and that help manage the long-term trajectory of gas and electric utilities in a decarbonized future.

Accelerator 2020 Application

Overview Presentation of the Application Process

Why It Matters

When you think of e^-Lab – what should come to mind is the intention to tackle a complex challenge through collaborative work. We do this work because we know that numbers and data alone won’t make the energy transition happen. It is the people within the industry who will.

Who’s Involved

Accelerator teams comprise 5–7 people representing multiple project stakeholders and partners. A team’s project must be actively under development, although it may range from an idea just brought into existence to a project well under way.

What We’ve Accomplished

e^-Lab Accelerator 2019 brought together cutting-edge projects from across the country to catalyze real proof points of how the electricity system is rapidly evolving, and how these changes can benefit communities. Thirteen teams brought a mix of decision makers—ranging from city government officials to utility executives to technology providers—to apply their collective brainpower to solve complex problems in a high-energy, focused, and collaborative environment. Topics included improved resource planning and programs for DERs and building electrification, new business models to support decarbonization, and improving communities' access to clean energy.

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