ChargeScape Demand Response Program For EV Drivers On Long Island

ChargeScape has partnered with PSEG, the primary utility company serving Long Island, New York, and drivers of electric vehicles from Ford and BMW in a demand response program that will allow precise management of vehicle charging to lower demand on the electrical grid during times of peak demand.

Using ChargeScape’s AI powered tools, more than 6,000 BMW and Ford EV drivers located on Long Island can participate in its Peak Load Reduction program that manages EV charging to support grid stability and offers financial incentives to participating drivers.

Demand response is a big deal. It allows utility companies to meet all the needs of their customers without having to build new generating capacity or transmission lines. Some of the savings the utilities realize can be used to reward those who participate in demand reduction opportunities, such as those who elect to take part in the ChargeScape program.

Demand for electricity on Long Island peaks in the summer, when air conditioners are in use to cool homes and commercial buildings. That’s when ChargeScape expects its technology to reduce strain on the power grid the most. There are 4,000 BMW EV drivers and 2,200 Ford EV drivers eligible to take advantage of the this program.

ChargeScape’s proprietary software, called EV AI, uses real-time data from PSEG Long Island to determine the optimal timing, duration, and intensity of charging. That keeps the demand for electricity to charge those EVs from exceeding the capacity of the utility local grid anywhere within the PSEG service area. The program is designed for drivers who charge at home, not those who used EV chargers available to the public.

ChargeScape is a joint venture between BMW, Honda, Ford, and Nissan. The first three carmakers formed the joint venture in 2023, while Nissan came onboard about a year later. ChargeScape says “additional automakers [are] set to join soon.”

Based in Texas, ChargeScape was created to connect utilities, carmakers, and EV drivers through its digital platform and proprietary software. For PSEG Long Island, this marks the first time in the nine-year history of its Peak Load Reduction program that EVs are enrolled to directly support grid reliability. Participating drivers will receive financial incentives for supporting grid stability through charging at home. Those incentives may include credits on their utility bills, among other things.

“The Peak Load Reduction program is an excellent example of collaboration among automakers and power utilities to help keep the lights on while saving EV drivers money,” said Joseph Vellone, CEO of ChargeScape. Alexander Schleicher,  the head of e-mobility at BMW of North America, agreed. “This program not only empowers our customers to play a vital role in energy conservation but also reinforces our commitment to sustainable mobility and community support.”

Dave McCreadie, the director of EV grid integration and energy services at Ford, also expressed support for the program. “Enabling our customers to enjoy the benefits from utilities’ electric vehicle charging programmes is part of the core value of EV adoption and ownership. Ford believes that ChargeScape will provide utilities like PSEG the best tool to help them manage their grid as EV adoption accelerates.”

Michael Voltz, PSEG Long Island’s director of energy efficiency and renewables, added: “We are pleased that these automakers recognise the importance of the Peak Load Reduction programme. The programme not only saves for those that participate but also reduces the amount of overall energy being used, which reduces the amount of electricity needed to be purchased for the following summer period. That translates into future savings for all customers.”

Wider Implications For Demand Response

The program on Long Island is pretty small potatoes, but it does give an indication of where some in the utility industry are headed. Basically, it involves strategies that allow utilities and their customers to work together to manage the demand for electricity. Anything that uses electricity can be controlled — water heaters, air conditioners, and EVs are just the tip of the spear.

The big noise in the utility industry today is data centers and their insatiable demand for electricity. They claim that they have to be operated 24 hours a day, which means they can’t use renewable energy because they need as much juice at 2:00 am as they do at 4:00 pm. Since batteries give up after about four hours, they need good old-fashioned coal and methane and nuclear generators, and nothing else will do.

But as we reported earlier this year, Tom Wilson of the Electric Power Research Institute says there is a way that some of the need for more thermal generating stations could be avoided. It’s called demand response, and it is a concept familiar to those who promote more distributed energy resources, virtual power plants, and EV chargers.

In its simplest terms, it means that if data centers would agree to throttle back their energy usage somewhat during periods of peak demand, the need for those new generation resources could be reduced considerably. “Data centers are not just load. They can also be grid assets,” Wilson said. His most recent project is called DCFlex — which stands for “data center flexibility.” It is a collaborative effort to get data centers to ​“support the electric grid, enable better asset utilization, and support the clean energy transition.”

It is unclear how Wilson’s ideas will stand up to the latest initiatives of the failed US administration, which has made “data center dominance” another emergency national priority along with “energy dominance.” There may be some backlash to his plans. Which is odd. For the past decade, EV opponents have been SCREAMING about how charging electric cars will crash the grid, but here comes a massive increase in demand to power data centers and no one is saying a word about overburdening the grid. Curious, that.

Demand response could be a tool for decarbonizing the grid, if we let it. It would let the grid work smarter, not harder, and save ratepayers a ton of cash as the same time. Do we have any idea how much all the new generating stations will cost? And who will pay for them? Data center operators are running around like their hair in on fire trying to convince utilities to add more generating capacity while trying to weasel out of paying for it. The Ohio PUC put the kibosh on that nonsense recently, but that is no guarantee that regulators in other states will do the same.

Demand response means having enough electricity when it is needed but not huge surplus capacity that will cost ratepayers billions. What ChargeScape is doing on Long Island is just a small example of how demand response can rationalize the utility industry and benefit all concerned — ratepayers, utility companies, and EV drivers. Is a win/win/win situation enough to make more programs like this happen? Stay tuned.