Summary
- Sunrun is operating a vehicle-to-home power plant using a small group of customer-owned bidirectional electric vehicles in Maryland
- The program includes three Sunrun customers in BGE’s service territory who own F-150 Lightnings paired with Ford Charge Station Pro and Home Integration System
- BGE was awarded grant funding from the Dept. of Energy to create the electric vehicle virtual power plant
- Sunrun is networking and monitoring the enrolled F-150 Lightning trucks during dispatch windows from June 1 to September 30, 2024
- The program aims to demonstrate vehicle-to-home capabilities, learn the behaviors of electric vehicle owners, and explore expanding the program to offer incentives for existing owners.
Article
Sunrun has launched a vehicle-to-home power plant program in Maryland, using a small group of customer-owned bidirectional electric vehicles, including Ford F-150 Lightnings paired with Sunrun’s Charge Station Pro and Home Integration System. This program is the first operational bidirectional electric vehicle power plant in the United States that utilizes a cohort of customer-owned vehicles. The goal of this program is to showcase how electric vehicles can contribute to grid resiliency and utility price stability, especially during times of peak energy consumption.
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) has partnered with Sunrun to develop and administer the program, which was awarded grant funding from the Dept. of Energy. The program is designed to help BGE’s system during times of high energy demand by discharging the stored energy from F-150 Lightnings’ onboard batteries directly to participants’ homes. This demonstrates how electric vehicles can act as stationary batteries to reduce grid demand and create a more resilient and reliable energy system for all BGE customers in Maryland. The program runs from June 1 to September 30, 2024, during weekday evenings.
Enrolled customers in the program will receive payments based on the amount of energy their F-150 Lightnings share during dispatch windows. The estimated payment over the four months of the program is $800 per customer. BGE’s Vice President of Regulatory Policy and Strategy, Mark Case, highlights the importance of using the power stored in electric vehicles to help Maryland achieve its net-zero emissions goals. The partnership with Sunrun will allow BGE to explore the potential of vehicle-to-grid programs to increase grid efficiency and reliability while providing added benefits to customers.
In addition to demonstrating vehicle-to-home capabilities, the program aims to learn the behaviors and preferences of electric vehicle owners. Sunrun and BGE plan to use this knowledge to explore expanding the program, incentivizing existing F-150 Lightning owners to adopt bidirectional charging, and developing vehicle-to-grid capabilities for sharing energy within a community. Sunrun’s Head of Grid Services, Chris Rauscher, emphasizes the importance of collaboration between BGE, Ford, and Sunrun in creating innovative programs like virtual power plants with bidirectional electric vehicles, which will play a vital role in the clean energy transition.
Sunrun CEO Mary Powell lauds the partnership with BGE for laying the foundation for the power grid of the future, where electric vehicle owners can contribute to grid resiliency and stability during periods of high energy demand. The program seeks to demonstrate the potential of using electric vehicles as distributed energy resources to enhance grid efficiency and reliability. As the program progresses, Sunrun and BGE aim to scale these innovative initiatives with other utilities around the country, showcasing the benefits of vehicle-to-grid programs in the clean energy transition.
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