Quick Start, Lasting Impact: Lessons from the TECH Clean California Quick Start Grant Program
August 18, 2025
TECH Clean California recently published its final report of the Quick Start Grant pilot program. This program was launched as part of the TECH Clean California initiative to accelerate market transformation for heat pump space and water heating through strategic investments in quick-deploying, innovative pilot projects that focus on solutions for low-income households and historically underserved communities. The program aimed to identify, refine, and validate effective, scalable strategies to inform statewide approaches and serve as a replicable model for equitable energy innovation.
From July 2021 to December 2024, the Quick Start Grant program awarded $3.85 million to 19 projects selected through two public solicitations. Equity-focused projects — supporting market segments like low-income households, disadvantaged communities, renters, and mobile homes —received 83 percent of the total funding. The program successfully met its key performance indicators (KPIs):
The Quick Start Grant program had several key benefits. It deployed TECH Clean California program funding rapidly, within six months of the program launch. By launching quickly and funding projects grantees had already been developing, implementation and results were expedited. The program also achieved outsized results with a relatively small investment: Quick Start Grant funds often supplemented or filled gaps — such as funding necessary home repairs not covered by other programs — in existing project funding, enabling significant heat pump installations and high-impact GHG reductions. The program also provided critical support to small and diverse organizations that might otherwise lack access to grant funding, including community-based organizations. Additionally, it helped close adoption gaps by implementing equity-focused strategies that complemented the broader market-facing approaches of TECH Clean California.
Key learnings emerged for outlining and implementing similar programs. Find out how our Quick Start Grant program pilot can serve as the basis of a replicable funding model for future programs seeking to build an inclusive, decarbonized energy system.
The TECH Clean California initiative is funded by California ratepayers and taxpayers and administered by Southern California Edison Company under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission. The TECH Clean California team is led by Energy Solutions and partners with Anchor Blue Consulting, Ardenna Energy, Association of Energy Affordability, Building Decarbonization Coalition, Central Coast Energy Services, Inc., Electrify My Home, Frontier Energy, National Comfort Institute, Energy Outlet, Recurve Analytics, The Ortiz Group, Tre’ Laine Associates, and VEIC.
