Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Vehicle To Grid topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
GridEdge’s vehicle‑to‑grid pilot shows technical promise but scores ‘red’ in PURA review
Summary
GridEdge Networks’ vehicle‑to‑grid pilot demonstrated a local control approach and important interoperability lessons, but the program administrator rated the project a ‘red’ (57%) and did not recommend scaling under the IES program because measurable cost savings were not supplied.
Jan Beecher, a commissioner at the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), convened a technical meeting on Docket 22‑0807 to hear final reports from Cycle 1 innovators.
Nakhim Sadan, founder and CEO of GoodEdge (GridEdge) Networks, described a vehicle‑to‑grid (V2G) demonstration that paired an electric school bus with a local flexible interconnection platform he called DERCOM. Sadan said the project replaced a proprietary cloud‑based charging management arrangement with local, substation‑level control and a SCADA interface to the utility, enabling bidirectional charge/discharge under utility control. "There's no 1 better than PURA to run this program," Sadan said, arguing regulators are better aligned with ratepayer interests than venture capitalists.
Sadan said the pilot produced two main innovations: (1) local control of V2G to avoid vendor lock‑in and improve cybersecurity and resilience, and (2) local flexible charging and discharging under substation DERM control. He described interoperability problems with a discontinued charger and legacy telematics, and recommended mandating open standards and creating V2G‑specific incentives. He estimated roughly three years before industry‑wide scalability as manufacturers and chargers adopt ISO 15118‑20 and related standards.
Micah Fiegelsen, the program administrator consultant from Current Energy Group, said the GridEdge deployment scored 57% under the IES scoring framework and received a benefit‑cost figure of zero because the project did not provide the savings inputs needed to calculate cost effectiveness. Fiegelsen recommended using GridEdge’s lessons in other proceedings and working groups rather than scaling the project now. "We are not recommending GridEdge for scale," he said, while noting the demonstrable operational and learning value of the pilot.
United Illuminating (UI) operations lead Mike Crowley echoed GridEdge’s interoperability and co‑location concerns and highlighted cybersecurity and substation‑data issues that utilities must manage when third parties interact with operational systems. UI and the program administrator said many of the pilot’s findings are being incorporated into the state’s bidirectional EV working group and related dockets.
The PURA commissioners and advisory council members asked detailed questions about documentation, standards adoption, battery size and depth‑of‑discharge, and whether incentives beyond the Energy Storage Solutions (ESS) program would be required to close the total‑cost‑of‑ownership gap for electric school buses. Sadan said his draft interrogatory responses included a cost‑breakdown and that a larger battery (he recommended a 150 kW minimum) substantially increases the grid value of vehicle fleets.
The meeting concluded with PURA directing written follow‑up comments from GridEdge, SGS and Tantalus, and no formal vote was taken.
