Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), in collaboration with Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) and The Mobility House, has commissioned a new vehicle-to-grid (V2G) electric school bus fleet. This project is one of California’s most advanced V2G deployments for school districts, aiming to support clean transportation and enhance grid resilience.
The infrastructure at FUSD includes 22 electric vehicle chargers: 14 previously installed low-power chargers, six high-power bidirectional V2G direct current fast chargers, and two additional high-power unidirectional chargers planned for 2026. These upgrades allow the district to manage a growing fleet of 14 electric school buses—four Thomas Built models and ten Blue Bird buses. As a result, six internal combustion engine buses will be replaced by electric models, with four entering service this year and two more scheduled for 2026.
Mike Delaney, Vice President of Utility Partnership and Innovation at PG&E, said: “This project is a shining example of how innovation creates a cleaner, smarter energy future. We’re proud to support Fremont USD and school districts across California as they convert to better, electrified student transportation.”
The initiative is led by The Mobility House under the California Energy Commission-funded Replicable Vehicle-to-X Deployment Study (RVXDS). The company’s ChargePilot platform manages both charging and discharging for the fleet using open standards. Gregor Hintler, CEO North America of The Mobility House, stated: “Electric school buses, with their large batteries and predictable schedules, have tremendous potential to support the electric grid with V2G. We are proud to provide the technology that enables the district to drive clean and support community energy resilience.”
ChargePilot also allows FUSD to participate in PG&E’s Emergency Load Reduction Program by responding to OpenADR signals. This system turns school buses into assets that can help maintain grid reliability during peak demand periods.
PG&E upgraded the electrical infrastructure at FUSD through a streamlined Rule 15/16 service upgrade process so that it could accommodate all six V2G DC fast chargers. Rules 15 and 16 govern requirements for extending service lines from distribution networks to customer meters in California utilities. Additionally, the site uses Rule 21 interconnection rules which enable energy export from customer facilities back into the utility grid—allowing schools like FUSD not only to power their own vehicles but also potentially generate revenue from excess energy supplied back into the system.
This marks FUSD as the second district involved in PG&E’s commercial fleet Vehicle-to-Everything pilot program after an earlier deployment with Zum and Oakland Unified School District in 2024.
Since joining PG&E’s EV Fleet program in 2019, Fremont USD has received incentives supporting seventeen electric school buses and thirteen medium-duty electric vehicles along with necessary charging equipment.
Ernest Epley, Director of Transportation at FUSD commented: “We’ve already seen how the electric buses can contribute to cleaner air for our community. Now, we have the opportunity to use these buses to deliver clean and reliable energy too.”
PG&E serves over sixteen million people across Northern and Central California as part of its commitment to modernizing utility services while supporting local sustainability initiatives.
