Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has received approval to establish the nation’s first vehicle-to-grid (V2G) export compensation mechanism for commercial electric vehicle (EV) charging customers in its California service area. 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 settlement agreement with the Vehicle-Grid Integration Council (VGIC), Electrify America LLC and the Public Advocates Office at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) was adopted by the CPUC on 20 October. The rate is expected to increase participation from V2G school buses and other electric vehicles in response to near-real-time grid conditions and will be available to charging equipment paired with stationary energy storage systems, which can support the grid and provide backup power to charge vehicles during grid outages.

More than 420,000 EVs have been sold in PG&E’s service area, representing one in six EVs in the country. 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. Greater volumes of these vehicles on the road comes at a critical time, as peak energy demand challenges California’s grid and novel solutions like V2G emerge.

The adoption of the nation’s first V2G export rate aligns with our core focus of proactively preparing the grid, increasing access to EV infrastructure, and supporting EV adoption through rates, rebates, tools, and education.

—Aaron August, PG&E Vice President, Utility Partnerships and Innovation

This new export rate structure, in the nation’s largest EV market, can serve as a guide for additional innovative rate structures across the country. As utility regulators, state agencies and industry partners continue to move forward with policy and market design in this dynamic space, VGIC is committed to advancing the role of smart EV charging and discharging through policy development, education, outreach, and research to support transportation and electric sector decarbonization.

As part of PG&E’s 2030 targets, the company is aiming to prepare the grid for 12,000 GWh of EV-related electric load and improve processes to enable rapid, safe EV energization and interconnection. It’s also working to enable 2 million EVs to participate in vehicle-grid integration applications.