Learn About Lawrence Berkeley Lab Technical Assistance
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electricity, provides technical assistance to state public utility commissions, state energy offices, municipal utilities, and rural electric cooperatives to consider, develop, and implement regulatory sandboxes or other innovative approaches like pilots and novel programs for deployment of advanced grid technologies for transmission and distribution (T&D) systems. Technologies such as smart reclosers, advanced conductors, Volt/VAR optimization, advanced flexible transformers, and many others can increase T&D capacity and improve reliability and electricity affordability.
State agencies and public power and cooperative utilities may send an email to Grace Relf (gerelf@lbl.gov) at any time with questions or to request a general or tailored educational briefing under the Sandbox Exploration option. Apply for Sandbox Expert Assistance or Sandbox Deep Dive services by completing a short form online.
We encourage applications for Expert Assistance and Deep Dive services by November 7, 2025, but will continue to accept applications on a rolling basis while resources are available.
Download Toolkit Materials
Berkeley Lab Publications and Webinars on Regulatory Sandboxes
- Relf, G. and L. Schwartz. "Regulatory Sandboxes and Other Processes to Expedite Utility Adoption of Advanced Grid Technologies: Report Briefing." (2025)
- Relf, G., M. Whiting, and E. Cappers. "Regulatory Sandboxes and Other Processes to Expedite Utility Adoption of Advanced Grid Technologies: Literature Review." (2025)
- Relf, G. "Deploying Regulatory Sandboxes to Support Grid Resilience." (2025)
- Relf, G. “From Pilot to Progress: Unlocking the Full Potential of Utility Innovation.” (2025) National Association of Utility Regulatory Commissioners (NARUC) Summer Policy Summit, July 27.
- Allen, R., J. Dumaine, E. Hellend, and G. Relf. “Regulatory Sandboxes and Utility Adoption of Advanced Grid Technologies.” NARUC Innovation Webinar, slides and recording .
Key Literature on Regulatory Sandboxes and Utility Innovation
- Beckstedde, E., M. Correa Ramírez, R. Cossent, J. Vanschoenwinkel, L. Meeus, 2023, Regulatory Sandboxes: Do they Speed Up Innovation in Energy? Energy Policy 180, June. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421523002410.
- Cappers, P., and C. A. Spurlock, 2020, A Handbook for Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating Successful Electric Utility Pilots, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/pilot_best_practices_webinar_final_20200918.pdf.
- Chojkiewicz, E., U. Pliwal, N. Abhyankar, C. Baker, R. O'Connell, D. Callaway, and A. Phadke, 2024, Accelerating transmission capacity expansion by using advanced conductors in existing right-of-way, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 121, No. 40, September. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2411207121.
- Costello, K., 2015, Research and Development by Public Utilities: Should More be Done?, National Regulatory Research Institute. https://pubs.naruc.org/pub.cfm?id=4AA29DB3-2354-D714-51DB-4CFE5EFE50A7.
- Costello, K., 2016, A Primer on R&D in the Energy Utility Sector, National Regulatory Research Institute, May. https://pubs.naruc.org/pub/FA85BA08-D94D-E40F-B7E1-98F834372877.
- Energy Systems Integration Group. 2025. Utility Perspectives on Making Grid-Enhancing Technologies Work: Use Cases, Barriers, and Recommendations for Scalable Deployment. A report by the Grid-Enhancing Technologies User Group. https://www.esig.energy/gets-usergroup/utility-perspectives-report/.
- Fairbrother, C., L. Guccione, M. Henchen, and A. Teixeira, 2017, Pathways for Innovation: The Role of Pilots and Demonstrations in Reinventing the Utility Business Model, Rocky Mountain Institute. www.rmi.org/insights/reports/pathwaysforinnovation/.
- Ivo, J., and S. Duff. 2020. “How to Build a Regulatory Sandbox: A Practical Guide for Policy Makers.” Technical Guide. Washington, D.C.: CGAP. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/126281625136122935/pdf/How-to-Build-a-Regulatory-Sandbox-A-Practical-Guide-for-Policy-Makers.pdf.
- McDonnell, M., J. Gorman, and M. Field, 2022, Regulatory Sandboxes: Program Design to Accelerate Innovation for an Evolving Electric Grid, Strategen, May. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f8721831dd8c167b78e87b1/t/6283f93f374238298104dc6d/1652816197382/STR-Regulatory-Sandboxes_Whitepaper.pdf.
- Michigan Public Service Commission Staff, 2020, Utility Pilot Best Practices and Future Pilot Areas, MI Power Grid: Energy Programs and Technology Pilots Workgroup. https://www.michigan.gov/mpsc/-/media/Project/Websites/mpsc/workgroups/ep-tp/MPG_Pilots_Report093020.pdf?rev=848886c89b6c480eb024e2bbd5052d1d&hash=2F4B97FAF25D3C29B559BFF8834C34BF.