North Carolina regulators have approved a pilot program allowing Duke Energy to supplement the power grid with electricity from customers’ electric vehicle batteries when demand is high. The test will initially involve 100 customers who lease Ford F-150 Lightning pickup trucks.
While the truck is plugged into a home charger, Duke could reverse the flow to pull electricity onto the grid several times a month. In exchange, customers’ lease payments will be reduced by about $25 a month. There’s a $25 gift card bonus if they supply additional power.
In an email, Duke Energy spokeswoman Logan Kureczka said, “We believe the $25 per month will be greater than the value of the energy they are billed for what is discharged from the battery during the events. We don’t know how much energy will be discharged during each event. The value is also unknown as it is tied to the amount that can be discharged and when it can be discharged.”
She said the data would help Duke design a more widely-available commercial program in the next few years. Customers will need Ford-supplied devices connecting vehicle batteries to their homes and the grid. Kureczka said those “vehicle-to-grid” devices are not yet available, and it’s unclear when the pilot will begin.