The Intersection of Energy Codes and Electrical Codes on the Road to Decarbonization

As the U.S. housing stock electrifies and decarbonizes in the coming decades, hundreds of millions of new electric loads will be added to new and existing dwellings. The cost and burden of this transition will depend, in part, on the need to upgrade the nation's electrical infrastructure. The National Electric Code (NEC) is used nationally to calculate electrical loads and size service infrastructure and has been identified as an obstacle in addressing existing dwellings. LBNL has led an effort funded by the U.S. DOE to review the existing electrical code for barriers to household electrification, which led to an analysis by LBNL of sub-metering data to support proposed changes to the code. This session will address NEC requirements around solar PV, home batteries, and Energy Management systems. Speakers will summarize the barriers identified in the current electrical code, present an overview of project data analysis, and review proposed code changes.