The New York Public Service Commission approved a plan by Consolidated Edison Company to electrify New York school buses and use the vehicles as energy storage batteries to help meet swings in power demand on the grid. The agency said that the demonstration project will help the utility gain experience in managing distribution-level resources, which will be critical as the state transitions to a de-centralized grid under its landmark Reforming the Energy Vision program. Con Ed’s Electric School Bus V2G project will operate five buses from the White Plains public school district when classes are in session. During the summer, when not used for transport, the buses will stay connected to the grid, ready to dispatch power supplies when demand for electricity spikes, a service known as peak shaving. The 8,000-odd school buses operating in Westchester County and New York City, if electrified, could provide about 450 megawatt-hours of energy storage, helping to lower peak demand on the system by as much as 112-megawatts, according to Con Edison.