Distributed Energy Resources, Energy Storage  -  May 9, 2022

PG&E Begins Home EV Charging Pilot Program

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) will develop three new pilot programs to test how bidirectional EVs and chargers can provide power to the electric grid and other benefits to customers.

The electric company will test bidirectional charging technology in homes, businesses and with local microgrids in select high fire-threat districts (HFTDs). The pilots will test the ability for the EV to send power back to the grid and provide power to customers during an outage. PG&E expects its findings will help determine how to maximize the cost-effectiveness of bidirectional charging technology in providing a variety of customer and grid services.

The new pilots are separate and in addition to the collaborations announced in March with both General Motors and Ford Motor Company, and will help to inform the Department of Energy Memorandum of Understanding that PG&E and a collaboration of industry, government and labor leaders signed in April focused on accelerating “vehicle-to-everything” technologies.

Each of the new pilot programs offers a financial incentive for participating customers and additional benefits for those in disadvantaged communities. All three are expected to be available to customers in 2022 and 2023 and continue until incentives run out. PG&E expects customers will be able to enroll in the home and business pilots in late summer 2022. 

“As electric vehicle adoption continues to grow, bidirectional charging technology has huge potential for supporting our customers and the electric grid broadly. We’re excited to launch these new pilots, which will add to our existing work testing and demonstrating the possibility of this technology,” said Jason Glickman, PG&E’s Executive Vice President, Engineering, Planning & Strategy, in a statement.

Read These Related Articles:

• Nearly 30% of PG&E's retail electricity is renewable, company says
• PG&E to replace nuclear capacity with energy efficiency, renewable energy generation
• Utilizing on-bill financing, California grocer rolls out energy-saving refrigeration upgrades
• PG&E's efficiency programs have saved $227M
• PG&E strikes energy storage deal for C&I customers