29 September 2009

Green cars: Revenue, electricity generators in Delaware

Delaware wants to reward owners of electric cars, and they have a new law that will allow the smallest state in the country to do just that.

This new law is the first entity in the world to reward owners of electric cars with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology for plugging in.

The eBox is the University of Delaware’s V2G capable electric vehicle. Source: University of Delaware

V2G vehicles work like an electrical sponge, capable of absorbing excess energy when demand for power is low, and returning some back to the electric grid when the demand for power is high. The new law lets people take advantage of this by requiring owners providing V2G services be “net metered,” meaning they only pay for the net amount of electricity they draw. Owners will get compensation for sending electricity back to the grid at the same rate they pay for electricity used to charge the battery.

Delaware Governor Jack A. Markell signed the bill into law last week. The signing event also included the delivery of two electric vehicles to customers in Delaware. AutoPort, a New Castle, Del., automotive processing and modification facility, delivered the vehicles.

In addition, the new law sets inspection and safety requirements like those for home solar power and small wind generators. While the vehicles do not generate electricity like solar panels or wind turbines, their ability to provide electricity when needed means at times V2G customers’ meters will actually run backwards.

The vehicles will help make our electric grid more efficient, cleaner, and more economical, said Willett Kempton, a V2G innovator and a professor in the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment.

“This technology improves the electric system by providing balancing power via storage that would otherwise require burning fossil fuels to produce,” he said.

Kempton is a member of UD’s Center for Carbon-free Power Integration, credited with founding V2G and continues to lead research on its development and adoption.

Delmarva Power and Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation Inc., Delaware utility companies affected by the legislation, were supportive of the new law.

“We are excited about the potential electric vehicles bring to our nation, and with our deployment of advanced meters, we look forward to continuing to find innovative rate structures that support the development of this technology and making Delaware a leader in the nation in doing so,” said Delmarva Power Region President Gary Stockbridge.

In January, the city of Newark became the first electric utility in the nation to approve electrical “interconnect” for a V2G vehicle to store and provide power for the local electric grid. In June, Delmarva Power did the same. UD researchers plan to have a fleet of six vehicles in operation by the end of this year.

For related information, go to www.isa.org/environment.