Sunrun debuts the first US vehicle-to-home power plant

Participants in BGE territory will power their homes with their F-150 Lightning trucks during peak demand to support Maryland’s grid in the US.

Three Sunrun subscribers are taking the plunge as part of the first bidirectional EV power plant pilot programme in the United States tapping into customer-owned vehicles.

In partnership with Maryland’s largest utility, Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), the regulator-approved initiative will include three SunRun customers in BGE’s service territory.

Participants own an F-150 Lightning truck paired with Ford Charge Station Pro and Home Integration System, which is sold exclusively through Sunrun. This summer, power from those trucks will be delivered to owners’ homes during peak demand to support Maryland’s power grid.

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“This programme is a significant proof of concept — no other market player has done this — and the goal is to expand these programs all around the country,” said Sunrun CEO Mary Powell.

“This exciting partnership lays the foundation for the power grid of the future, where electric vehicle owners can contribute to grid resiliency and utility price stability for everyone. The summer heat can be especially stressful on our power grid, which is why proving the use of stored energy in electric vehicles for capacity is so important.”

BGE was awarded grant funding from the US Department of Energy to create an EV virtual power plant and partnered with Sunrun to develop and administer the programme.

By discharging F-150 Lightnings’ onboard batteries directly to participants’ homes, the programme showcases how EVs can function like stationary batteries to reduce demand on the grid and create a more resilient and reliable energy system for all BGE customers in Maryland.

Sunrun is networking and monitoring the enrolled F-150 Lightning trucks as they share stored energy during dispatch windows from June 1 to September 30, 2024, between the hours of 5 pm and 9 pm on weekdays. All funding will flow to enrolled customers, who will receive a payment based on the amount of energy shared — estimated to be $800 over the four months of the programme.

“We know that the power stored in electric vehicles will be essential in our state’s effort to achieve its bold net-zero emissions goals,” says Mark Case, vice president of regulatory policy and strategy at BGE.

“Partnering with Sunrun will allow BGE to unlock and learn the potential of how vehicle-to-grid programmes will support increasing grid efficiency and reliability with distributed energy resources while providing a valuable new benefit to customers.”

Sunrun has an existing partnership with Ford Motor Company to serve as the preferred installer for Ford Intelligent Backup Power, which includes the Ford Charge Station Pro and the co-developed Home Integration System — the first commercially available bidirectional system in the United States.

Intelligent Backup Power allows customers to use bidirectional power technology from their all-electric trucks to provide up to 10 days of power to their homes during an outage, depending on home energy usage.

EnergyHub and Wallbox team up as V2G offerings expand

According to the US Department of Energy, about 80% of all EV charging occurs at home, making managed charging programmes a priority for utilities.

As Sunrun fine-tunes its virtual power plant offerings, other vehicle-to-grid options are popping up.

EnergyHub, a provider of grid-edge flexibility, and Wallbox, an electric vehicle charging and energy management company, have announced a partnership to take advantage of utility programs for EV-managed charging accessible to Wallbox customers. Wallbox EV chargers will be integrated with EnergyHub’s platform to expand the number of devices eligible to participate in utility active and passive managed charging programmes.

EnergyHub and Wallbox expect to enroll Wallbox devices in utility programmes in August this year. By combining utility rebates and programme participation incentives, customers can significantly reduce the upfront and ongoing costs of EV charger ownership, per the company. According to EnergyHub, four out of five customers participating in utility programmes reported buying their level 2 EV charger specifically to enroll in a programme.

“Our partnership with Wallbox is an important milestone in our commitment to provide utilities with access to the industry’s largest ecosystem of device partners,” said Matt Johnson, VP of business development at EnergyHub.

“The integration will deliver immediate benefits to our utility clients and their customers who want to use Wallbox chargers in managed charging programmes and help pave the way for a more reliable, increasingly decarbonised energy system.”

“We are excited to announce our partnership with EnergyHub to allow customers in the US to take full advantage of our Level 2 home charger’s smart capabilities,” added Fred Turner, senior director of Wallbox NA.

“We know that the majority of EV charging happens in the home, so integrations that deliver financial and environmental benefits to both customers and utilities are key to the transition.”

Originally published by Paul Gerke in, and edited with permission from, renewableenergyworld.com