On July 26, 2022, an innovative vehicle-to-grid (V2G) project was deployed in California with grant support from the California Energy Commission (CEC), California Air Resources Board, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. San Diego Gas & Electric partnered with the Cajon Valley Union School District and a local technology company, Nuuve, to get the project off the ground. Six 60kW bi-directional DC fast chargers were installed at the bus yard. They will charge the batteries on the buses during the day when solar penetration on the grid is high and then discharge clean electricity back to the grid when needed such as on hot summer days, benefitting the grid and providing revenue to the school district.
CEC awards grants for these kinds of projects through their School Bus Replacement Program which funds replacing diesel school buses in disadvantaged and low-income communities in the state. In April 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate deployment of V2G projects and encourage stakeholder collaboration throughout California. For more information on the Cajon Valley V2G project, read the press release here.