Ford EV Owners Can Now Get Paid To Support Southern California Grid

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For those who personal or lease a Ford electrical automobile, now you can receives a commission to assist the electrical energy grid in Southern California, and also you don’t even want vehicle-to-grid expertise. That is particularly within the Southern California Edison utility district, and it’s initially solely an possibility for Ford EV homeowners (others will seemingly be added in time).

The Ford EV homeowners will likely be compensated for lowering their electrical energy demand at occasions when the grid is underneath additional strain — when there’s excessive electrical energy demand and it’s getting too near out there electrical energy provide. Going a step additional, if a Ford EV does have vehicle-to-grid (V2G) functionality, it can be used to ship electrical energy from the EV’s battery again into the grid for additional compensation.

This system is known as the California Energy Response. It’s Ford’s a part of the Southern California Edison (SCE) Emergency Load Discount Program (ELRP). It’s operated in coordination with Olivine ClimateResponse® VPP. (VPP = digital energy plant.)

“Besides benefitting from easy and convenient home charging, Ford customers can now enroll to receive financial benefits by allowing Ford to automatically pause their electric vehicle charging during peak demand periods, with the ability to override the pause if they need to charge sooner,” Ford writes. “Customers will earn $1/kWh of energy reduced during the peak demand events. To register, eligible customers can follow instructions on the following link.”

The good factor about this program, too, is that it could actually solely get higher. With every new batch of Ford EV gross sales, the potential for versatile electrical energy demand grows. Ford EV drivers can have increasingly more constructive influence on the grid 12 months after 12 months.

“The future of the two-way grid is now. The electric industry has been preparing infrastructure and systems to take advantage of vehicle-to-grid integration, and a lot of hard work on all sides is now making that a reality,” said Steve Powellpresident and CEO of SCE. “Ford’s support of the ELRP will show how EVs can make the grid more resilient. The ELRP incentivizes EV drivers to send power from their car battery to the grid when it is needed most.”

“Becoming the first U.S. automaker to participate in the ELRP program through Ford’s California Power Response program is another example of Ford maximizing every benefit possible for our electric vehicle customers,” mentioned Invoice Crider, senior director, international charging and vitality providers, Ford Motor Firm. “Electric vehicles can deliver cost savings through incentives provided by leading utilities such as Southern California Edison, and current vehicle-to-home and near-future vehicle-to-grid services open even more benefits to customers, the electric grid and communities at large.”

I’m very curious to listen to the experiences of Ford EV homeowners and lessees who take part on this program. For those who be a part of this system, please hold us posted through feedback right here on CleanTechnica and even Letters to the Editor. I’m positive lots of our readers would like to examine your experiences.

From the grid perspective, will this program assist take care of the notorious “duck curve?” I presume it’s going to. The truth is, I’m not sure how much longer the duck curve can survive in California with all of the vitality storage and demand response options which have been arriving on the grid.