NRDC is seeking a Schneider Summer Fellow to work with the Climate & Clean Energy Team team in our NY office. This will be a 2019 Summer Internship.
The Clean Vehicles and Fuels Group is looking for a Fellow to perform analysis and stakeholder engagement which will aid our advocacy work to enable vehicle to grid integration (VGI). As our electricity mix transitions to having more clean energy and a greater variety of clean-energy equipment comes online (e.g., solar panels, wind farms, electric vehicles (EV), smart thermostats), the wholesale markets will face different challenges as they work to maintain reliability and match power demand and supply. Alongside the growth of renewables, many states have ambitious goals to electrify the transportation sector. For example, in New York, as part of the ZEV mandate, there is a goal to have approximately 850,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2025 as well as 10 ,000 charging stations statewide by the end of 2021. We believe that VGI, through smart charging (V1G) and bi-directional charging (V2G), can significantly reduce the cost of ownership of EVs, charging infrastructure and cost of grid management. The outcome of this project would be to evaluate the costs associated with participating in VGI programs, such as networking fees and equipment upgrades, compared with the value potential gained. This project will assist in developing market solutions and informing our policy advocacy accordingly.
Activities will potentially include:
- Literature review and interviews with stakeholders regarding costs associated with upgrading charging stations, metering and EVs, to be able to take advantage of VGI programs.
- Research of existing VGI programs, e.g. commercial and residential time-variant rates, entry into storage mandate and demand response programs and participation requirements.
- Perform cost-benefit analysis of value of VGI for different consumer segments and potential VGI programs.
- Communications through stakeholder engagement, development of blogs and other communication materials to support engagement with policymakers as well as for a broader lay audience.
The outcome of this project would be a report and presentation that capture the key learnings and informs NRDC of the best advocacy route for promoting VGI participation in existing clean energy programs in selected states.
Further, alongside this research project the fellow will assist with NRDC’s advocacy efforts in proceedings related to low-cost metering, EV rate design and demand response programs. This will entail working with industry stakeholders, such as utilities and EV and charging equipment manufacturers, as well as public utility and energy commissions.