Sunrun has activated the nation’s first residential vehicle-to-grid distributed power plant in partnership with Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), Maryland’s largest utility. The pilot program is dispatching energy from customers’ all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning trucks to the grid during periods of peak demand this summer and fall.
The BGE and Sunrun partnership launched last summer with vehicle-to-home capability, and this summer the program advanced to the next step: pioneering vehicle-to-grid energy dispatch, becoming the nation’s first residential bidirectional electric vehicle distributed power plant. Sunrun created and administers the program, which includes three customers using Ford and Sunrun’s co-developed Home Integration System to send energy from their F-150 Lightning trucks’ batteries to the home and grid.
“This demonstrates the critical role that vehicle batteries can play in powering the nation’s grid, accelerating American energy independence and dominance. It’s great to see this partnership with BGE and Ford move to this commercial stage,” said Sunrun CEO Mary Powell. “In addition to showing how electric vehicles can power homes, add electrons to the grid and help utilities meet peak electricity demand, this program also creates extra income opportunities for customers.”
Starting in July, the enrolled F-150 Lightning trucks dispatched energy to the grid between the hours of 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, earning participating customers a payment based on the amount of energy shared — up to a maximum of $1,000 for the dispatching season that goes through the end of September.
“When we enacted the DRIVE Act in 2024, it was exactly this type of innovation and collaboration that we hoped to unlock,” said Maryland State Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo. “I am excited to see this milestone reached, as we hope to see these types of customer-centered solutions scale up to meet our state’s electricity needs. Thank you to Sunrun, BGE and Ford for working together to make this happen.”
Earlier this summer, during extreme heatwaves, a large portion of the eastern grid reached alert-level demand. This vehicle-to-grid program demonstrates that the large batteries inside electric vehicles can stabilize the grid, provide backup power to homes and lower energy costs; and dispatching electric vehicles to the grid when demand and prices are high can help control costs and add reliability for grid-connected customers.
“Educating customers that their electric vehicles have the potential to save — and even earn — them money all while parked at home is a game-changer,” said Bill Crider, senior director, global charging and energy services, Ford Motor Company. “Enabling customers to not only power their homes, but send power directly back to the grid in times of need helps customers with financial incentives, utilities with more power capacity, and society through more grid reliability and sustainable energy practices. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
News item from Sunrun
