New York Utilities Pay EV Drivers to Charge Off-Peak, Ease Strain on the Grid
NEW YORK—Electric vehicle drivers in and around New York City are earning cash for charging at off-peak times. The program, dubbed SmartCharge, is the nation's largest of its kind, and it offers a potential model for how other US cities can prepare for the shift to electric vehicles.
SmartCharge is a partnership between two utility companies, Con Edison and Orange & Rockland, and EV tech company ev.nergy(Opens in a new window), whose technology taps into the car's connected telematics to log charging details and calculate payments.
Over 5,000 EVs are enrolled in SmartCharge. The program operates in all five boroughs of Manhattan, Westchester County, Orange County, Rockland County, and parts of Sullivan County. Drivers can register their vehicles on the Con Edison(Opens in a new window) and Orange & Rockland(Opens in a new window) websites.
"It's a real mix of areas," Joseph Vellone, Head of North America for ev.energy, told us at the New York Auto Show here. "You have the dense urban areas of of New York City and also a number of suburban and rural parts of upstate New York."
Last year, 24% of the EVs in the Con Edison service area were enrolled. "That's really robust participation for a program like this," says a Con Edison spokesperson. "We have really engaged EV owners who see the impacts of charging on the grid and want to help out."
The main threat EVs pose to the grid is overuse during peak times, according to a recent MIT study. For example, in the early evening, many people return to their homes and begin turning on lights, streaming content, and, now, charging EVs. The grid is designed to accommodate these peaks while the infrastructure sits under-utilized overnight.
"If everybody charged in the middle of the
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