Nuvve Holding announced a new collaborative pilot program with Resource Innovations led by ComEd to explore the benefits of bidirectional charging using electric school buses within ComEd’s service area powering more than 4.3 million customers across northern Illinois. Scheduled to run through the end of Q4 2025, the initiative will assess the environmental, societal, and grid impacts of integrating vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology into clean transportation.

The pilot will evaluate ways to deploy energy stored in the batteries of electric school buses to enhance grid stability and reduce energy costs. Three school districts, all of which are Nuvve customers within ComEd’s service area, are anticipated to join the pilot this year.

This pilot in northern Illinois will help demonstrate the versatility of Nuvve’s V2G technology, offering the utility the opportunity to study how to harness energy stored in vehicle’s battery for use during peak times, and bolster energy efficiency for school districts and local communities.

ComEd’s V2G pilot comes as part of the company’s Beneficial Electrification investments, setting forward a number of customer EV rebate and education programs and innovative pilots to help inform future planning and support a growing customer demand for EVs and their related infrastructure.

ComEd’s EV programs include tens of millions in customer rebate programs aimed at lowering the upfront costs of charging infrastructure and fleet projects. Since last year, these programs have helped catalyze the addition of 3,500 EV charging ports across the region, and 200 added EV fleet vehicles, including numerous school buses. ComEd’s EV programs are mandated by the state of Illinois’ forward-looking Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), which includes a goal of reaching 1 million EVs on the roads by 2030.

With ComEd’s support powering the advancement of EVs, there are currently over 126,000 EVs in Illinois, more than double the number registered in 2022.