Pacific Gas and Electric said Wednesday it had received regulatory approval to establish the nation’s first vehicle-to-grid export rates for commercial electric vehicles, including incentives for early adopters in the program’s first year.
“The V2G export rate promotes EV adoption by providing upfront incentives to help commercial customers offset fleet costs and delivers an innovative solution for these vehicles to export power back to support the grid during peak energy demand periods,” the utility said in a news release.
Electric school buses are a main target of the new rate-setting mechanism.
School buses hold larger batteries than standard EVs and can spend peak solar hours parked and plugged into bidirectional chargers. They can discharge energy to the grid when it is needed most, such as the strained conditions that CAISO has encountered on hot summer evenings in the past three years.
“As large vehicles like school buses and commercial fleets continue to electrify, the opportunity grows for these vehicles to serve as crucial, flexible grid resources to support a more reliable, affordable and efficient energy system,” PG&E said in the news release. “Greater volumes of these vehicles on the road come at a critical time, as peak energy demand challenges California’s grid and novel solutions like V2G emerge.”
The rate-setting mechanism was included in an uncontested settlement between PG&E, the CPUC’s Public Advocates Office, EV advocacy organization Vehicle Grid Integration Council (VGIC), and charging company Electrify America. The settlement was the subject of a proposed decision published Sept. 14 and approved by the CPUC Oct. 20 without discussion.
PG&E first proposed the dynamic, real-time hourly pricing rate structure (RTP rate) for commercial EVs in Oct. 2020.
“The design of the rate to be used in the export compensation pilot is straightforward,” the Sept. 14 proposed decision said. “As with the RTP rate underlying the export compensation rate ‘rider,’ only the components of the generation rate are affected. The design of the export compensation pilot rate rider would delete the revenue-neutral adder currently applied to the RTP rate but would keep the marginal energy charge and marginal generation capacity cost elements.”
PG&E agreed to try to make the export compensation pilot available for enrollment by Oct. 1, 2023. It will operate for three years, unless the CPUC extends it.
The pilot project will include up to $250,000 in incentives for customer enrollment during its first year. Participants will be eligible for incentive payments based on the size of their EV equipment and type of vehicle served, with school buses eligible for an incentive adder.
Equipment of 100 kW or less can receive a base incentive of $1,800 plus a $1,350 school bus adder for a total of $3,150. Equipment greater than 100 kW can get a $3,750 base incentive and a $2,810 adder for a total of $6,560.
PG&E estimates the total ratepayer cost of the export compensation pilot will be between $1.42 million and $1.52 million, the decision said.
“The CPUC’s decision is a strong step forward for Californians and in support of the state’s grid, implementing the nation’s first dynamic export rate for EV charging customers,” VGIC Policy Director Ed Burgess said. “As ever-greater numbers of EVs hit the roads, this innovative rate option will allow EV owners to further benefit from their investment in clean transportation.”