How Energy Companies Can Leverage EVs To Prevent Summer Blackouts
With summer well underway, America's aging power grid is under mounting pressure from two converging forces: around-the-clock electricity demand from AI data centers and short-term but intense spikes in usage driven by air conditioning during heat waves. Without smarter energy management strategies, some regions could experience rolling blackouts like those witnessed in California in August 2020. Indeed, the North American Reliability Council (NERC) predicts that 100 million Americans live in a part of the power grid at elevated risk for blackouts this summer. And beyond the sheer inconvenience of power outages, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that they cost the American economy up to $70 billion per year.
Summer blackouts don't have to be an unavoidable inconvenience that Americans are forced to endure. Recent innovations in technology mean that the U.S. power grid now has 100 GW of distributed energy resources (including batteries) that can be deployed to send power back to the grid when needed. Electric vehicles (EVs) are often called 'batteries on wheels,' and advancements in bidirectional charging technology mean that many EV drivers are now resilient to blackouts due to their vehicle's ability to provide backup power to their home; some EV drivers even earn money by selling battery power back to the grid when prices are high.
Having worked in the EV space for over a decade, I am increasingly convinced that EVs can now be leveraged as an asset to help shore up the nation's aging power grid. Here are three steps that energy companies can take to harness EV flexibility and help keep the lights on this summer.
1. Leverage EVs To Reduce Demand During Peak Hours
Utilities like PSEG Long Island run seasonal programs such as the System Peak Relief Program, which pay energy consumers to reduce their electricity demand for short periods, typically less than four hours, during periods when the power grid is overloaded, such as during a heat wave. EVs consume about as much power as the average American household, including air conditioning, and are being increasingly targeted by energy companies for their flexibility.
For example, Eversource Energy offers EV drivers in Connecticut rebates for occasionally pausing or delaying their at-home charging. (Full disclosure: Eversource Energy is a partner of ChargeScape.) EVs are typically plugged in at home for 12-14 hours at a time but only require 2-3 hours of charge per session. EVs can therefore serve as a highly flexible source of electricity demand during heatwaves, when consumers are less likely to want to switch off their air conditioning in response to alerts from their local utility.
2. Enable Customer Self-Sufficiency And Resilience To Blackouts
Automotive companies have made great strides to enable EVs to serve as a source of backup power. Energy companies can empower their customers to be self-sufficient during blackouts by harnessing the energy stored in their EV batteries to keep the lights on.
For instance, the Ford F-150 Lightning can supply up to 19.2 kW of power—enough to power a typical American home for up to three days. In Michigan, for example, DTE Energy has partnered with Ford to pay customers $500 per year to coordinate charging and discharging during summer heatwaves to ensure customer resiliency during blackouts while supporting long-term grid stability. (Full disclosure: Ford is an investor in ChargeScape. DTE Energy is a partner of ChargeScape.)
3. Reward EV Drivers Who Export Power Back To The grid
The California power grid cannot build new power plants fast enough and is turning to batteries and EVs to provide generation capacity in their place. In response, California's energy companies have launched programs such as Demand-Side Grid Support, which pays customers for their grid export between May and October each year. Companies such as Tesla now offer the program to their customers, offering them $350 per season, and electric fleet companies such as Xos are aggregating capacity from their trucks' mega-batteries to send power back to the grid.
From Grid Strain To Grid Support
As the strain on America's aging power grid intensifies, EVs represent a uniquely scalable, already-deployed solution that can be harnessed to improve grid reliability, reduce peak demand and provide backup power when it's needed most. The infrastructure is in place. The technology is ready. What's needed now is bold, collaborative action from utilities, automakers and policymakers to unleash the full potential of EVs as grid assets.
By building smart incentive programs, investing in bidirectional charging infrastructure and empowering customers with tools to support both their homes and the grid, we can move from crisis response to proactive resilience.
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