August 8, 2023 - A New York Times online article about residential energy resilience prominently featured the Connected Communities project in Menifee, CA, in addition to other communities employing solar, storage and microgrid technologies. The article noted that the all-electric Menifee homes each include a smart electrical panel, connected switches and outlets, and a phone app that will calculate when and how much power customers use from each appliance. Homes will also be wired to incorporate electric-vehicle charging stations, and could eventually be equipped with vehicle-to-home charging.

June 12, 2023 - KQED, the San Francisco Bay Area PBS affiliate, featured a story on the new residential community in Menifee, California, that is part of the Connected Communities project led by SunPower, in partnership with residential developer, KB Homes. The 78 single-family homes in this community, and the 141 in an adjacent development are all completely electric, with flexible electric loads that can provide grid services, and shared battery storage with islanded microgrid capabilities. Some homes also include vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-building EV charging. Other project collaborators include automaker Kia, manufacturer Schneider Electric, UC Irvine and the U.S. Department of Energy.

October 13, 2021 - The U.S. Department of Energy announced 10 pilot projects that have been selected to deploy Connected Communities across a wide range of technologies, locations, and building types. These projects will demonstrate the capabilities of grid-interactive efficient buildings that will support renewable energy adoption and grid resilience and reduce energy use, costs, and emissions.