Custom Projects Review Guidance Page
Custom Projects Stakeholder Engagement Group
Custom Projects Review Home Page
Custom Projects Review Guidance Page
Custom Projects Review Guidance Documents
The staff from the four investor-owned utilities and Commission staff collaboratively developed guidance documents for the custom projects review. These guidance documents provide details on the Commission’s policies and procedures to be utilized in the development of expected values for Custom Projects/Measures.
Projects developed in the custom process will likely follow a path of project development, pre-installation review, installation and commissioning, and post installation review. These steps have key aspects that must be fulfilled in order to qualify as a Custom Project. The guidance documents on this webpage will assist project developers in submitting a complete and concise documentation to support the energy efficiency savings estimate submitted to the IOUs.

Project Development
Statewide Custom Project Guidance Document, version 1.3
The purpose of this Custom Project Guidance document is to provide an overview of the policies, guidelines, rules, processes, requirements and definitions used in Custom Project Reviews documentation and quality assurance. This document provides information on requirements for submitting a omplete application package:
- Provides key definitions, eligibility, and program influence for Custom Projects
- Requirements for project packages a various stages
- Measurement and Verification plan requirements
- Old versions of the guidance document
Product Feasibility Study Template, version 1.0
This document is a template for implementers to use and fill out in describing a feasibility study to be submitted to the CPUC.
Map and Timeline of Program Administrator's (PA) Pre-Installation Process
This is an informational guide for stakeholders on the timeline and steps taken during the PA's pre-installation Custom Project Review process.
- Timeline with responsibilities by stakeholders
Industry Standard Practices v3.0, An Update of Guidance of ISP Studies and Custom Project Development
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for the concept and
processes involved with establishing and implementing an Industry Standard
Practice (ISP) study, which is used in calculating the energy efficiency
savings from custom energy efficiency projects. In its prologue this document
includes a high-level summary of what ISP is and why it is important for energy
efficiency in general, and Custom Projects in particular. Chapter 5 of this document provides guideline
for Custom Projects’ development.
- Baseline selection for measure types
- Communications with the customer
- Exercising and assessing program influence
Eligibility for Projects with Non-IOUs Fuel Sources
This document describes how to assess energy efficiency savings
eligibility at sites with non-Investor Owned Utility (non-IOU) supplied energy
sources. It demonstrates several
examples of sites with energy supplied by non-IOU fuel sources (i.e.
cogeneration and renewables).
- Determination of Eligibility and Maximum Claimable Energy Savings
- Various examples on how to estimate savings at sites with Non-IOUs Fuel Sources
Preponderance of Evidence Guidance for Replacements and Retrofits
This document provides guidance on determining program-induced accelerated replacement of the existing equipment with more energy-efficient equipment. It also provides key definitions of Effective Useful Life (EUL) and Remaining Useful Life (RUL), and different types of installations, as well as providing examples of how the recommended guidance may be applied.
- If submitting
an accelerated replacement measure, this document will guide you on how to ask
the appropriate questions to show preponderance of evidence.
- Key definitions
of: Effective Useful Life (EUL), Remaining Useful Life (RUL), Second Baseline
Period, New Construction, Replace on Burnout, Normal Replacement, Early
Retirement, and Add-On Retrofit.
Pre-Installation Review
This document details the CPUC staff a day 30-day timeline for reviewing Custom Projects as mandated in SB 1131. It also covers the communication timing between the CPUC and the utility during the 30-day review.
- Tracking of response due dates
- SB 1131
- CPUC staff recommendation timeline examples
Recommended Communication Practices for Custom Measure Review of Large Projects
The primary goal of this proposed Communications Practice
for Large EE Projects (Expected incentive greater than $100,000) is to
facilitate the Custom Measure Review Process and promote understanding of
project parameters between Implementers, PA/Reviewers and Commission Staff
("CS")/Consultants to identify key issues early in the review
cycle. This will likely reduce the back
and forth between Implementers and Reviewers, thereby reducing total review
time. These communications are intended
to be informal and not result in additional time delays in the formal PA or CPUC
staff project review processes. The document was created by a working
group that included utilities, implementers, and CPUC staff.
- Project specific communication
- Overall custom measurement review communitcation
Custom Project Disposition Database
Once
CPUC staff completes the review of Custom Projects, they will issue to the Program
Administrator a review findings disposition document summarizing any issues or
comments related to the project eligibility, baseline, energy efficiency
savings calculations, or program influence documentation. This searchable public database contains Program
Administrator redacted versions of the CPUC staff dispositions, as well as ISP
studies, guidance documents, and other Custom Projects related documents.
- Database of dispositions and other documents
Installation and Commissioning
The CPUC does not have any requirements on installation and commissioning. Please refer to your Program Administrator (PA) for any questions on this stage.
Post Installation Review
Post Installation Summary Report, v1.0
This document is a template for implementers/project developers to use and fill out as the post-installation report that is to be submitted to the Program Administrator (PA). The Installation Summary Report is a complete Custom Project summary report which summarizes all project documentation into a single source for a reviewer to look at and understand how the energy savings were validated and present the savings to the PA in an easily readable format.
- Template report for Post-Installation projects
- Guidelines for Custom Project requirements for Post Installation
- Summarized report for savings validation