California Adopts Strategies to Further Vehicle-Grid Integration

The California Public Utilities Commission on Dec. 21 issued a decision adopting strategies and metrics to further the integration of electric vehicles as grid resources. The decision, which adopts recommendations of the commission’s Vehicle Grid Integration Working Group, directs utilities to collaborate on interconnection and rate reforms and pilot programs, such as using EVs for emergency backup power during wildfire-related power shutoffs.

The move fulfils the requirements of a 2019 law, which calls for strategies and quantifiable metrics to maximize the use of viable and cost-effective EV integration into the grid by the start of 2030. The decision directs the state’s major investor-owned utilities to host a workshop in the first quarter of 2021 to educate potential vehicle-grid integration demand response providers on opportunities and identify any barriers to participation for such resources. Further, the utilities would be required to collaborate with the California Independent System Operator Corp. to design wholesale market rules and access that support the integration.

The decision also allows utility investment of revenue generated from the sale of Low Carbon Fuel Standard, or LCFS, credits in EV projects, with a priority for low-income and disadvantaged communities starting next year. By 2024, the state’s major utilities are required to allot at least 75 percent of the program’s unallocated funds for initiatives serving underserved communities.

In a separate decision, the commission approved an EV rate for San Diego Gas and Electric Company to provide a subscription pricing plan, which will replace peak demand charges that can make charging costs prohibitive. The commission has already approved programs that provide similar commercial rate options for customers of PacificGas and Electric and Southern California Edison.