Let’s take a break from the tiring topic of funding. Let’s look instead at the bigger picture of ESBs and energy, and how in some places, ESBs can generate revenue or support community resilience, besides the core work of transporting students. Staff from Fermata and the Beneficial Electrification League gave me valuable information for this piece; I’m grateful! Banner photo courtesy of Highland Fleets.
Which ESBs can do vehicle to grid (V2G)
Most all electric school buses come with bidirectional capacity (they can discharge electricity in addition to receiving it) as a standard feature at no extra cost. The exception is Type A’s (small buses used for special education students). But discharging energy to the electric grid only happens with a charger and specialized software that is engineered for that, plus the utility’s extensive involvement.
For V2G revenue, think of your ESBs as buying low and selling high. This is called arbitrage. The electricity from the batteries is what’s you’re buying when you charge the bus. Then you’re selling it back to your utility when you discharge during discharging events.
The catch is that the selling/discharging events only happen if and when the utility wants them to. Heat waves are a prime example of when they want to. Preventing power outages is a prime goal all utilities share, though only a handful of utilities yet are running V2G pilots. See World Resources Institute’s article on V2G that includes a map of pilots and design considerations. I also recommend CALSTART’s excellent report it cowrote with Exelon and Clean Energy Works (it’s dense and if you want my notes/summary please ask).
Revenue from V2G hinges on sharp fluctuations in electricity pricing. To buy low and sell high, there has to be a big daily swing in a utility’s pricing of energy. Some utilities and some regions of the U.S. have more of this price-swing than others (keep reading).
George Miller, Business Development Manager at Fermata Energy, which specializes in V2G, states, “A likely number that school districts would receive [per charger/ESB] is in the $6,000-10,000 range [annually] for the next two to three years, growing to $10,000-15,000 in the three to five year range.” He clarifies these estimates are specific to the states of New York, Rhode Island, California and Massachusetts.
For another take on revenue, I caught up with Tysen Brodwolf, the Transportation Director at Cajon Valley School District, California. I interviewed Tysen in person last year (see Vehicle To Grid: The Least You Need To Know). Her V2G project started getting off the ground in 2021, had some growing pains, and made particular progress recently. For example:
- Six chargers serving six ESBs
- Nuuve handling V2G software and chargers
- Seven discharge events in August 2023 during a two-week heat wave
- San Diego Gas & Electric paid $2/kilowatt hour for discharged energy
- Within their Emergency Load Reduction Program
- $2,000 V2G revenue to the school district for the above
Nobody I’ve talked with suggests that V2G revenue will fully cover the too-high upfront costs of ESBs and chargers. On the other hand, in the scaling up of fleets that EPA and Highland, among others, are pointing us toward, V2G can be significant. Moreover, power outages prevented, children’s asthma attacks averted by zero emissions buses and human lives saved by community resilience centers are each a form of gold. Tysen Brodwolf says, “My perspective has changed to include my larger community. When we can be part of the bigger picture, it’s awesome”.
Our WASBE guest speaker at our Galentine’s Forum was Amy Flower, top row second from left, engineer and Lead Product Manager at Entergy, a utility that powers much of the South. WASBE co-founders, from top left corner down: Malinda Sandhu of Lion, Susan Mudd of Environmental Law and Policy Center, and Alison Wiley, founder of the Electric School Bus Newsletter (me).
Upcoming Events
I plan to attend these, and look forward to seeing many of you there.
School Transportation News (STN) Green Bus Summit East, June 2-3, 2024, Indianapolis, Indiana
Oregon Pupil Transportation Association Conference, June 17-20, 2024 in Bend, Oregon. My presentation on June 19th is ambitiously titled “Turning Pain Into Gain: How To Ace Utility Speak”. To find other states’ school bus conferences, try STN’s Industry Calendar.
STN Green Bus Summit West, July 14, 2024, Reno, Nevada
Many thanks to George Miller, Taylor Cantwell and Anne McGraw of Fermata, Tysen Brodwolf, Ian Fried of CALSTART, Jon Jantz, Keith Dennis of the Beneficial Electrification League and Dominic May of La Plata Electric Association, for their expert input on this newsletter. I love it when smart people listen to me think out loud on a topic, and then nicely set me straight. If you see any errors, blame only me, and let me know.
Financial support for this newsletter is provided in part by the World Resources Institute. While the World Resources Institute may engage as a partner on content, it does not control, nor does it necessarily endorse, the contents of this newsletter.
Thanks!
Alison Wiley (she/her/hers)Electric School Bus Newsletter
I am on the ancestral lands of the Multnomah, Chinook and Cowlitz peoples.
Whose land are you on?