Bennet, Hickenlooper Introduce Bill to Promote Vehicle-to-Grid Charging for Electric School Buses
Press Release
Yesterday, Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper joined Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Angus King (I-Maine), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) to introduce the Bus Integration Dedicated to Improving Resilience, Eliminating Congestion, and Triggering Innovation Over Numerous Applications and Localities (BIDIRECTIONAL) Act. The bill would create a Department of Energy program dedicated to deploying electric school buses with "bidirectional energy flow capability," or the ability to use their batteries to power the electrical grid when not being driven.
Also known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G), bidirectional energy flows between a vehicle and the grid makes use of existing electric vehicle infrastructure to meet demand on the grid during peak times. V2G technologies have been demonstrated, but remain commercially unproven. Investment is needed to scale.
Electric school buses are ideal for V2G technologies because they have large batteries, sit idle for long, predictable periods, and operate in fleets. V2G offsets the upfront cost of an electric school bus by providing the value to school districts of returning energy to the grid.
"Deploying more electric school buses is critical to preserve clean air for our kids -- and if we do it right, we can also put these buses to work to power our electric grid, which is exactly what schools in Durango, Colorado are doing," said Bennet. "Our bill will jumpstart innovative vehicle-to-grid technology, make smarter use of existing infrastructure, and help build an energy grid that accelerates clean energy, cuts pollution, and fights climate change."
"V2G will help balance clean energy supply with peak demand," said Hickenlooper. "Durango 9-R is showing how much of a success this idea is, we just need to deploy it nationwide!"
Durango School District 9-R is pioneering a V2G pilot program. The bill builds on efforts like 9-R's and the $5 billion that passed as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help school districts around the country adopt electric school buses.
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