Skip to main content

PG&E Launches EV Pilot Program

In this episode - PG&E Launches EV Pilot Program . . .

In a previous podcast episode (Bi-Directional Charging), we reported on V2H and V2G technology. Happy New Year, welcome to season four of On the Fly.

Dateline: Dec. 6, 2022 - Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced the launch of a pre-enrollment website for customers interested in joining the company’s upcoming Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) pilot program. The “Vehicle to Everything” pilot envisions a future in which automobiles not only draw their power from the electrical grid but can strategically add electricity back to the grid when demand is high — and generate some money for their owners.

It’s based on the concept of bidirectional energy flow using EV batteries; this isn’t new, but having a utility company as dominant as PG&E onboard could transform the idea into a reality.

The pilot has space for 1,000 residential customers and 200 commercial customers. PG&E isn’t releasing the numbers for how many people have signed up. Still, Paul Doherty, a communications architect at PG&E, expects the enrollment period to take several months, stretching into Q1 2023. More than 420,000 EVs—one in six in the country—are registered in PG&E’s service area of Northern and Central California, where customers are often early adopters of new clean energy technologies.

On the residential side, customers can receive financial incentives of up to $2,500 just for enrolling in the pilot. That money, says Doherty, goes towards installing a bidirectional charger at the customer’s residence. The installation cost varies according to the home’s specifications. Still, Doherty says it’s unlikely that $2,500 will cover the total cost for most users, though it may come close, with most installations ranging in the low thousands.

Once the bidirectional charger is installed, customers can use the electricity to power their homes during peak demand hours and begin selling electricity back to the grid during flex alerts.

Southern California residents may remember back in September of 2022 when the electric grid was pushed to its breaking point thanks to a historic heatwave. During such events–or any other disaster that strains the system–customers can plug their vehicle in, discharge the battery, and get paid.

Doherty states that users can expect to make between $10 and $50 per flex alert depending on how severe the event is and how much of their battery they’re willing to discharge. That might not seem like a considerable sum, but the pilot program is slated to last two years.

Let’s say California averages ten flex alerts annually; like in 2022, customers could make $1,000. That could offset the rest of the bidirectional charger installation or provide another income stream. Not to mention help stabilize our beleaguered grid.

However, there’s always a catch. PG&E has to test and validate any bi-directional charger before it can be added to the program. So far, the only approved hardware is Ford’s Charge Station Pro, meaning only the F-150 Lightning–can participate in the program. That should change soon as the utility company tests additional hardware from other brands. Doherty says they’re expecting to add the Nissan LEAF, Hyundai’s IONIQ 5, the KIA EV6, and others soon since it’s just a matter of testing and integrating those chargers into the program.

The commercial side of the pilot looks similar to the residential. Businesses receive cash incentives upfront to help offset the cost of installing bidirectional chargers and then get paid for their contribution to stabilizing the grid in times of stress. PG&E says electric school bus fleets represent attractive targets for this technology due to their large battery capacity, high peak power needs, and predictable schedule.

If California’s aggressive plan to transition all new car sales to electric by 2035 succeeds — this would require it to add nearly two million new EVs to state roads every year — that’s two million rolling, high-power batteries with the potential to power our homes, our jobs and the grid at large. Getting there will be a colossal undertaking, but PG&E’s pilot could be a sufficient test, provided they can figure out how to get more vehicles than the Ford Lightning into the program. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before the other utility companies follow suit, so stay tuned.

I’m Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

Confidently Wrong: The Art of the AI Tall Tale

In this episode, A chat with Adamas the Chef on hidden recipes causing digital hallucinations. Pull up a chair and pour yourself a fresh cup of coffee—and please, for your own sake, taste it first. We need to have a quiet chat about why your computer sometimes decides to reinvent reality with the confidence of a five-star chef who has clearly lost his mind. In the world of technology, we call it a  hallucination . It sounds pretty dramatic, doesn’t it? As if the computer decided to ignore your instructions altogether in favor of a vivid, technicolor imagination that simply hasn’t met reality yet. But in truth, an AI hallucination isn’t a breakdown; it’s just a very confident, very polite mistake. Think of it like our friend Adamas , the Chef. Adamas is a master of the kitchen, but he is also a bit of a romantic who refuses to say “I don’t know.” When you ask him for a classic recipe he hasn’t made in years, he doesn’t stop to consult a cookbook—that’s far too pedestrian. Instead, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Opening Day Magic 2026 . . .

It’s back. Baseball—yes, baseball ! If you’re someone who finds themselves inexplicably drawn to this peculiar ritual, let’s be honest with each other: it’s a bit odd, right? I mean, 162 games. That’s a lot of hot dogs, a lot of standing around, and a lot of grown men in oddly tailored trousers spitting with remarkable precision. And yet, here we are, poised on the precipice of another season. Thursday, March 26, 2026, to be precise—Opening Day. It’s a curious thing, this Opening Day. You walk into a stadium, or turn on the TV, and suddenly, everyone is infected with a highly contagious strain of . . . Optimism . It’s a spectacular form of collective amnesia. All of last year’s fumbles, the endless losing streaks, the existential dread of watching your bullpen implode in the eighth inning—poof. Gone. It’s entirely replaced by a wide-eyed, childlike belief that this year, finally, the baseball gods will smile upon us. The Cycle of Hope and Despair As a Cubs fan, I know this cycle intim...
Post a Comment
Read more

Overcooking the Grid

In this episode, terrified of smart toasters, yet demanding infinite electricity for potato personality tests. Pull up that chair again, and let’s hope your coffee is safe this time. In our last chat, we talked about our well-meaning but occasionally delusional AI friend, Chef Adamas, and his penchant for hallucinating blueberries into your Carbonara. We learned how to manage his quirks by keeping our “digital pantry” organized. But today, we need to look past the chef and take a hard look at the sheer size of the kitchen we are building for him. And folks, that kitchen has gotten completely out of hand. Down in Louisiana, tech companies are currently building an artificial intelligence data center the size of 70 football fields. It is a four-million-square-foot digital brain that requires so much electricity they are building three new natural gas power plants just to keep the servers from literally melting down into a puddle of expensive silicon. And what are we using this god-like, ...
1 comment
Read more

Vintage Vinyl

In this episode - Vintage Vinyl . . . Turntables are making a big comeback; why? Listening to music should be a multi-sensory experience. Harmony, rhythm, and the deep expression of emotion. Like a warm, gentle rain in the springtime cascading around you the room is filled with a resonant, rich, melodic sound. My emotions welled up, and tears come to my eyes. Ok, I get it, we need to step back to get some perspective here. Recently a visit to Lou's Records in Encinitas, California, inspired me to dig out my Vintage vinyl LP record collection. I selected the Carpenters Singles 1969- 1973 . This musical duo reigned from 1969-to 1982 with the rich, full melodic voice of Karen Carpenter. They were one of the biggest-selling groups of the 1970s. "No fewer than ten of their singles went on to become million-sellers, and by 2005 combined worldwide sales of albums and singles well exceeded 100 million units." The tactile sensory experience of music begins with the album cover it...
4 comments
Read more