This panel will be a discussion of a commercial and residential EV managed charging pilot which is a collaboration between WeaveGrid as the project lead, Orange and Rockland as the utility partner, and Opinion Dynamics as the research partner, with funding from NYSERDA. The pilot will launch in late June 2024 and will have about 9 months of data to report on by Distributech 2025. 

Currently, most passive and active EV managed charging programs in-market across the country are focused on serving residential customer segments and optimizing for bulk system peak reduction benefits. This panel will share insights from novel applications of managed charging offerings including deploying solutions for commercial customer segments and optimizing for the protection of distribution system assets in addition to addressing bulk system impacts. This project will demonstrate the potential to defer distribution infrastructure upgrade and repair costs by applying a software solution that incorporates grid topology data to coordinate charging schedules across vehicles that are grouped based on their location in the grid system or other relevant parameters to produce a balanced load on the distribution assets. 

Phase 1 of the project will include recruiting residential segment customers with EVs that have either compatible embedded telematics capabilities or compatible networked level 2 (L2) chargers for applications of advanced managed charging. 

In Phase 2, the advanced managed charging solution will be deployed for commercial segment participants. This will include a range of potential users including municipal EV fleets, small-medium business (SMB) EV fleets, workplace charging depots of L2 networked chargers, and others. Orange & Rockland has identified a number of potential commercial customers with small EV fleets or L2 charger depots for targeted outreach to engage for participation in Phase 2 of the project. 

The panel can speak to initial results and progress against the stated goals for technical performance which consist of:

1. Successfully demonstrating Managed Charging which incorporates both dynamic bulk system signals (e.g., NYISO Day Ahead LBMP), and distribution-optimized charging in O&R territory with residential and commercial participant segments. The performance target is to show an increased shift in charging load (kW and kWh) to low-cost or grid-beneficial times and a net reduction of coincident peak charging loads within vehicle groupings;
2. Enrolling a sizable population of participant vehicles and chargers (targeting up to 2,500) to represent the demonstrated technologies at a scale sufficient to drive broader market adoption; and
3. Generating net positive BCA results, and delivering an independently evaluated assessment of the project outcomes and projected, hypothetical results for larger-scale demonstrations of the solution.

The audience attending this presentation will come away with an understanding of best practices and lessons learned for expanding managed charging programs to new applications. Opinion Dynamics will share insights focused on appropriately capturing and measuring the full suite of benefits that managed charging programs can provide. Orange and Rockland and WeaveGrid will share insights on optimizing customer recruitment, project execution, and grid impacts.