A consortium of five energy and technology companies — Eversource, National Grid, EnergyHub, Sunrun, and The Mobility House — has launched a pilot program to test residential vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities in Massachusetts. The initiative will allow qualifying electric vehicle owners to discharge stored battery power back to the grid during peak demand periods, earning financial incentives while contributing to system reliability. The program marks one of the most comprehensive V2G tests in the Northeast, bridging home solar, smart charging, and utility dispatch.
This is not merely a technology demonstration. It is a test of business models and customer behavior. For the first time in Massachusetts, two major investor-owned utilities are collaborating with three technology aggregators to treat EV batteries as dispatchable grid assets. If successful, the model could reshape how utilities value distributed energy resources in capacity planning and peak load management.
What makes this V2G pilot different from earlier efforts?
Previous V2G pilots have often been small-scale academic exercises or single-utility experiments. This program brings together distinct capabilities: Sunrun provides home solar-plus-storage integration and customer acquisition; The Mobility House handles bidirectional charging hardware and vehicle telematics; EnergyHub operates the virtual power plant platform that aggregates and dispatches the fleet. The utilities, meanwhile, bring the tariff structures and grid operational protocols needed to pay customers for real-time energy discharge.
The program also benefits from Massachusetts’ mature clean energy policy environment. The state’s Clean Peak Standard and aggressive EV adoption targets create a regulatory framework that values distributed flexibility. Unlike many pilots that end after funding runs out, this one is designed to produce data that could inform permanent rate designs.
- Participants use bidirectional chargers that can both charge and discharge vehicle batteries
- Discharge events will be coordinated during peak grid stress periods, typically summer evenings and winter mornings
- The program aggregates individual EVs into a virtual power plant managed by EnergyHub
- Sunrun’s home solar customers can layer V2G on top of existing solar-plus-storage systems
Why does this matter for Massachusetts’ grid and ratepayers?
Massachusetts faces a growing challenge: as heating electrification and EV adoption accelerate, winter peak demand is rising faster than the state can build new transmission or generation. V2G offers a lower-cost alternative to peaker plants or imported power. An EV battery with 60 kWh of capacity can power a typical home for two days, but more importantly, a fleet of 1,000 EVs can deliver 10–20 MW of dispatchable capacity — comparable to a small gas peaker, but with zero emissions and faster response times.
The inclusion of Sunrun is particularly strategic. Home solar generation is intermittent and peaks mid-day, while EV charging and grid peaks occur in the evening. By pairing solar with V2