Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), in partnership with Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) and The Mobility House, has launched a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) electric school bus fleet. This project introduces 22 electric vehicle chargers at FUSD, including six high-power bidirectional V2G direct current fast chargers, which allow the buses to both charge and send electricity back to the grid. Fourteen electric school buses—four Thomas Built and ten Blue Bird models—are now part of the district’s fleet, replacing six internal combustion engine buses.
“This project is a shining example of how innovation creates a cleaner, smarter energy future,” said Mike Delaney, Vice President, Utility Partnership and Innovation at PG&E. “We’re proud to support Fremont USD and school districts across California as they convert to better, electrified student transportation.”
The Mobility House leads the project under the California Energy Commission-funded Replicable Vehicle-to-X Deployment Study. Its ChargePilot platform manages when buses charge or discharge power using open standards. “Electric school buses, with their large batteries and predictable schedules, have tremendous potential to support the electric grid with V2G,” said Gregor Hintler, CEO North America of The Mobility House. “We are proud to provide the technology that enables the district to drive clean and support community energy resilience.”
ChargePilot will also enable FUSD’s participation in PG&E’s Emergency Load Reduction Program by responding to OpenADR signals—turning school buses into assets that can help stabilize the grid during periods of high demand.
To support this transition, PG&E upgraded electrical infrastructure at FUSD through a streamlined Rule 15/16 service upgrade process. These rules set requirements for connecting new customer sites to utility distribution lines in California. The site is also interconnected via Rule 21, which allows energy export from distributed generation sources like these buses back onto PG&E’s system.
This marks the second time a school district has joined PG&E’s commercial fleet Vehicle-to-Everything pilot program; Oakland Unified School District participated in 2024. Since joining PG&E’s EV Fleet program in 2019, Fremont USD has received incentives supporting 17 electric school buses and 13 medium-duty vehicles.
“We’ve already seen how the electric buses can contribute to cleaner air for our community,” said Ernest Epley, FUSD’s Director of Transportation. “Now, we have the opportunity to use these buses to deliver clean and reliable energy too.”
PG&E serves more than sixteen million people across Northern and Central California. More information about its operations can be found at https://www.pge.com/, https://www.pge.com/news/, and https://www.pge.com/innovation/.
The original press release is available at https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pge-and-the-mobility-house-launch-groundbreaking-vehicle-to-grid-electric-school-bus-fleet-with-fremont-unified-school-district-302526669.html
