Dominion to Roll out Largest Electric School Bus Deployment in the Nation, Showcasing Effectiveness of Vehicle-to-Grid

Dominion Energy is seeking state approval in Virginia to deploy the nation’s largest electric school bus program, starting with 50 buses in 2020, then adding 200 per year for the next 5 years, according to an October 10 press release from PJM Interconnection LLC, the grid operator.

Dominion expects to spend $13.5 million replacing the first 50 diesel buses, which it will include in its current base rate. On top of providing clean transportation for hundreds of students across the state, they will also be used as an energy storage resource. Their batteries will be plugged in and tapped to ease high energy demand or provide stability to the grid when renewable output is intermittent or serve as portable batteries during an emergency or power outage. When the plan is fully implemented, the fleet of bus batteries could store up to 105 MWh of electricity, enough to power more than 10,000 homes.

According to the grid operator, fleets of vehicles such as school buses, mail carriers and garbage trucks, which have regimented schedules, are naturals for vehicle-to-grid subjects.

PJM recognizes that there is a nation-wide trend toward electric vehicles and so for the first time in 2020, it plans to explicitly account for plug-in car charging in its load forecast model.