PG&E partners with The Mobility House and Fremont USD to launch California’s largest vehicle-to-grid school bus project

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (NYSE: PCG) has joined forces with Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) and The Mobility House to commission one of California’s most advanced vehicle-to-grid (V2G) electric school bus fleets. The collaboration marks a milestone in clean transportation, grid resilience, and student health, showcasing a model that could be replicated across the state and beyond.

The project introduces 22 chargers—including six high-power bidirectional V2G direct current (DC) fast chargers, 14 previously installed low-power chargers, and two additional high-power unidirectional chargers planned for 2026—to power a growing fleet of 14 electric school buses. These include four Thomas Built models and 10 Blue Bird buses, displacing six internal combustion engine vehicles over the next two years.

Mike Delaney, Vice President of Utility Partnership and Innovation at PG&E, said the initiative demonstrates how innovation can accelerate a cleaner and smarter energy future. “We’re proud to support Fremont USD and other districts across California as they transition to electrified student transportation,” he noted.

How vehicle-to-grid technology transforms electric school buses into grid assets

The project is driven by The Mobility House under the California Energy Commission’s Replicable Vehicle-to-X Deployment Study (RVXDS). At its core is ChargePilot, TMH’s intelligent charge management platform, which uses open standards to optimize both charging and discharging of the fleet.

Gregor Hintler, CEO North America at The Mobility House, explained that electric school buses are ideally suited for V2G applications due to their large battery capacity and predictable operating schedules. This predictability enables school districts to feed stored energy back into the grid during peak demand, supporting community energy resilience.

ChargePilot also enables FUSD to participate in PG&E’s Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP) via OpenADR—a secure, two-way information exchange protocol for demand response (DR) and distributed energy resources (DER). This allows the district to generate additional revenue by responding to grid needs, turning school buses into functional grid assets.

The infrastructure upgrades making large-scale V2G possible

To enable the transition, PG&E upgraded the Fremont USD bus depot’s electrical infrastructure with a new 480-volt three-phase service entrance (up from 208V), a 750 kVA transformer, and a 2,500 Amp switchgear designed to handle both current and future charging demands. The site was energized under a streamlined Rule 15/16 service upgrade, which governs California’s requirements for electric service line extensions.

Additionally, the site was interconnected under Rule 21, which outlines how generation facilities can connect to an investor-owned utility’s distribution and transmission systems. This interconnection allows energy export from the school buses back to the grid, creating revenue opportunities and expanding the district’s role in local energy markets.

A model following earlier PG&E school district deployments

This is the second school district to join PG&E’s commercial fleet Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) pilot program. The first was Oakland Unified School District in 2024, operated in partnership with fleet operator Zum. Fremont USD’s involvement builds on its participation in PG&E’s EV Fleet program, which began in 2019 and has since supported 17 electric school buses and 13 electric medium-duty vehicles with infrastructure and charging incentives.

The project aligns with California’s broader clean energy and electrified transport goals, including the state’s commitment to achieving 100% zero-emission new vehicle sales by 2035. School buses are a particularly impactful segment, as they both reduce diesel emissions near schools and leverage idle battery capacity for grid services during off-hours.

Why the Fremont USD project matters for California’s clean energy transition

Electrifying school transportation directly addresses air quality concerns, particularly for children who are more vulnerable to respiratory illnesses caused by diesel exhaust. According to the American Lung Association, replacing diesel school buses with electric models can significantly reduce particulate matter and nitrogen oxides in local communities.

From a grid perspective, V2G-enabled buses act as distributed energy resources, providing emergency power during outages or peak load events. Analysts suggest that with California’s grid facing increasing pressure from heatwaves, wildfires, and electrification demands, scalable V2G models could be critical for balancing reliability with sustainability.

Industry and investor sentiment on utility-backed V2G models

While PG&E is not the first utility to explore V2G, industry observers note that its scale, infrastructure investment, and integration into formal demand response programs distinguish it from earlier pilots. The company’s move also comes amid investor interest in utilities that demonstrate leadership in distributed energy integration.

Market analysts have highlighted the dual benefits of V2G projects—generating both customer savings and utility operational efficiencies. By reducing peak load requirements, V2G can help defer costly infrastructure upgrades, potentially improving long-term shareholder value. Although specific financial details for this project have not been disclosed, PG&E’s broader clean energy investments are viewed as aligning with California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) policy priorities.

Partnerships driving the project’s execution

The collaboration draws on expertise from multiple partners, including The Mobility House, Polara, World Resources Institute, and the Center for Transportation and the Environment. These organizations contributed to planning, technology integration, and securing grant funding to make the project viable.

Ernest Epley, Fremont USD’s Director of Transportation, said the initiative has already delivered visible air quality benefits. “Now, we have the opportunity to use these buses to deliver clean and reliable energy too,” he said.

The road ahead for vehicle-to-grid school bus adoption

The Fremont USD initiative underscores the emerging viability of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) school bus programs, but industry experts note that large-scale adoption will require sustained policy support, technology standardization, and coordinated investment. Electric school buses are uniquely positioned to become central players in grid-interactive transportation because their duty cycles leave them parked for the majority of the day and during peak grid demand periods. This idle time, coupled with battery capacities that often exceed 150 kWh per bus, creates substantial opportunities for energy storage and demand response services.

California’s clean transportation and grid reliability objectives are likely to accelerate adoption. The California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Advanced Clean Fleets regulation, which mandates a phased transition to zero-emission school buses, directly complements utility-driven V2G initiatives. Furthermore, federal programs such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program—backed by billions in funding through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—are providing critical financial incentives for both vehicle procurement and charging infrastructure.

However, widespread deployment will depend on overcoming technical and operational hurdles. Utilities, school districts, and technology providers must ensure interoperability between different bus manufacturers, charger types, and software platforms. Bidirectional charging equipment remains more costly than unidirectional systems, and long-term revenue streams from grid services must be sufficient to justify the investment. School transportation managers will also need clear operational protocols to balance route readiness with grid export commitments, especially during unplanned service disruptions.

Investor sentiment around V2G projects has been cautiously optimistic, with market analysts suggesting that aggregated school bus fleets could evolve into significant distributed energy resources (DERs) over the next decade. If even 25% of the roughly 480,000 school buses in the United States were electrified and V2G-enabled, they could collectively provide gigawatt-scale storage capacity—enough to meaningfully impact peak load management in multiple regions.

The Fremont USD project is therefore being closely watched as a proof-of-concept. Its ability to demonstrate operational reliability, measurable grid support, and tangible financial returns will influence how quickly other districts move forward. Given the increasing volatility of the U.S. power grid—driven by climate-related disruptions, electrification growth, and renewable integration—V2G school bus adoption could shift from being a forward-looking innovation to a core component of energy resilience strategies within the next five to seven years.