Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

By 2035, all new light duty passenger vehicles sold in California will be zero emission. Transitioning away from gas-powered vehicles will not only reduce greenhouse gas and air pollution, but will also unlock an opportunity to rapidly and affordably decarbonize our electricity grid. Bidirectional charging technology makes it possible to both charge the batteries of electric vehicles (EVs) and send the energy stored in EV batteries back to the power grid, homes, and businesses. Ensuring EVs are capable of bidirectional charging and integrating them into the grid requires policy reforms, which is what our project is focused on.  

The Climate Center wrote and sponsored legislation for California State Senator Nancy Skinner (SB 59), which was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in September of 2024.  SB 59 authorizes the state to establish bidirectional charging capability requirements for electric vehicles (EVs) sold in California, policy which builds upon California’s historical national leadership in clean energy and air pollution standards, dating back to legislation enacted in the 1960s requiring that vehicles sold in California have catalytic converters to reduce air pollution.   

We are now expanding efforts to scale adoption of this transformational technology in California and nationwide. Widespread adoption of bidirectional EV charging would provide enormous benefits, including the following;  

- Pollution prevention: by storing solar energy generated during the day and rendering it available as needed during evening peak hours, we can help make polluting methane gas peaker plants obsolete, cutting greenhouse gases and catalyzing a clean, reliable, and resilient grid. 

-Grid-cost savings: incorporating bidirectional EVs into the electrical grid will be significantly cheaper and faster than building utility-owned energy storage. 

-Increased grid resiliency: bidirectional electric vehicles can serve as mobile energy sources during outages. For example, electric school buses that charge during the day — and hardly operate at all during the summer — could be deployed as a fleet of batteries on wheels, backing up medical centers, fire stations, and food stores.

-Reduced energy costs for EV owners:  energy can be stored in EV’s when it is cheaply available during the daytime and returned to homes or the grid in the evening when prices increase. 

Following passage of SB 59, The Climate Center is currently working with relevant state agencies, led by the California Energy Commission, on enactment, including establishment of bidirectional charging capability requirements for EVs including school buses and light duty passenger vehicles.  Additional efforts include the following:

-Advocating for an executive order from Governor Newsom calling upon the state to develop a vehicle-grid goal and a requirement that CA state agencies purchase bidirectional EVs and chargers as part of state vehicle procurements. 

-Advocating for creation of payment mechanisms so EV owners can be compensated by utilities for energy returned to the grid. As part of a nationwide team led by Highland Fleets, The Climate Center was recently awarded a grant from the US Department of Energy to, among other things, encourage utilities to make compensation mechanisms available.

-Supporting the creation of a state and national regulatory environment that will support rapid utilization of EVs and other distributed energy assets as grid resilience and reliability assets. This includes accelerating utilization of virtual power plants which can be a mechanism to rapidly scale use of EVS as grid assets.

-Expanding communications to policymakers and the public in California and beyond regarding the transformative potential of bidirectional EVs to become the foundation of a cleaner, resilient and reliable electricity grid. (Related, see the “Media Appendix” with examples of our communications work).

How Project Affects Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions:

['Replaces/avoids GHGs (e.g., projects that replace sources of GHGs, such as the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, heat, transport, or other energy uses)', 'Reduces GHGs (e.g., projects that reduce sources of GHGs, such as through efficiency or other changes in consumption)']

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

We partner with environmental justice (EJ) groups across the state and community-based organizations to secure a climate-safe future for all. These are long-term, reciprocal relationships. Since 2020 we have convened the Microgrid Equity Coalition to build bridges between clean energy providers, environmental organizations, and EJ groups such as Reclaim Our Power, California Environmental Justice Alliance, and Local Clean Energy Alliance. This coalition meets monthly and together secured $200 million for the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) Microgrid Incentive Program, providing funds to develop clean energy microgrids in disadvantaged communities. EJ groups are at the table in the design, planning, advocacy, and implementation of all our policy proposals around community energy resilience. Internally, our organization’s leadership is majority women at both the board and executive level, with 40% of our board identifying as people of color. 

When scaled, this project will eliminate the need for methane gas peaker plants that pollute our climate and are disproportionately located in disadvantaged communities; displace diesel generators used as mobile power sources during extreme weather events; reduce electricity bills across the state; and provide greater financial benefits for electrical vehicle ownership, increasing affordability for low-income individuals.

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