PG&E Announces Finalists for 2025 Pitch Fest: 57 Energy- and Climate-Tech Innovators Selected from 400+ Applicants

Event to include a headline panel of leading startup co-founders

OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today announced the 57 organizations invited to present at its 2025 Pitch Fest, taking place September 23–25 at PG&E's Oakland headquarters.

Selected from a pool of more than 400 applicants, these companies represent the next wave of innovation in climate tech, grid modernization, and wildfire resilience.

Building on the momentum of PG&E's past Innovation Summits and Pitch Fest events, this year's gathering reinforces the company's leadership in surfacing and scaling breakthrough solutions to California's most urgent energy and climate challenges.

"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."

With up to $25 million in funding available to be allocated to new projects by the end of the year, PG&E plans to work closely with selected vendors emerging from the Innovation Pitch Fest to define projects and co-develop and integrate solutions directly into its systems, ensuring a fast, reliable path from concept to scaled impact.

The funding is available through PG&E's electric R&D budget under the public purpose program Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC).

EPIC enables California investor-owned utilities to demonstrate new technologies and evaluate how they support safety, reliability, and affordability, environmental sustainability and equity objectives for the benefit of all California electric customers. Additional funding sources may also be available, depending on project scope and alignment through other PG&E innovation initiatives outside of EPIC.

2025 Pitch Fest will also feature a day-one headline panel of leading energy and climate-tech co-founders who have recently partnered with PG&E through its innovation programs: Anukool Lakhina (CEO, BurnBot), Steven Chen (CEO, Treeswift) and John Taggart (President, WeaveGrid). These three co-founders will be in conversation with Quinn Nakayama, Senior Director of Grid Research Innovation and Development, PG&E, offering insights to entrepreneurs on how to successfully begin, develop, and sustain partnerships with PG&E and other utilities.

Pitch Fest Themes & Finalists

During Pitch Fest, each organization will have 15 minutes to present their respective solution to PG&E decision makers. The organizations participating in 2025 Pitch Fest include:

Wildfire & Forest Management

• Climformatics
• Firescape
• GridIntel
• Growvera
• ISL Analytics
• Loamist
• Opal AI
• Pinepeak
• Pyrologix & Vibrant Planet
• Technosylva
• EcoPhi
• GridVisibility
• IFD Technologies
• ORKID
• Pratexo
• University of California, San Diego (UCSD)

EV & DER Management

• Alderbuck Energy
• BluWave-ai
• Critical Loop
• DG Matrix
• Maiven Energy
• OPF Energy
• Plexigrid
• SwitchDin
• Switched Source
• T.rex AI
• The Mobility House & WeaveGrid
• The Mobility House & Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL)

Customer Electrification

• Maiven Energy
• Recurve
• WattCarbon
• Wherobots

Customer Resiliency

• Base Power
• CraftStrom Solar
• Critical Loop
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
• Pila Energy

Large Load Management

• Atlas Power Technologies
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
• Leaptran
• Piq Energy
• Quanta Technology & Reactive Technologies
• Smart Power Networks
• VoltageAI

Undergrounding

• Advanced Spade Company
• Case Western Reserve University
• Infleqtion
• Path Power
• Phoenix Boring
• We Think Global

Operational Cost Savings

• Camus Energy
• Emerald AI
• Neara
• Rayfield Systems
• Splight
• TerrAssist AI

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than sixteen million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com, pge.com/news and pge.com/innovation.

SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company