They helped San Francisco Bay Area EV drivers reduce charging usage by five MWh during California's September heat wave – equivalent to the average daily energy usage for almost 300 households.
In November 2021, MCE partnered with ev.energy to launch MCE Sync, a free mobile app that provides a way for customers to charge their EVs off-peak and save money without the need for special hardware. In April 2021, MCE partnered with Recurve to launch the Peak FlexMarket, a US$6m programme that supports decarbonisation and grid reliability by offering incentives for reducing energy consumption during times of peak demand.
From 31 August to 9 September, the California grid operator (CAISO) issued daily Flex Alerts asking residents to reduce energy consumption between 4pm and 9pm. In response, the Peak FlexMarket issued dispatches to MCE Sync which automatically reduced customers' EV charging by as much as 96%, helping California prevent blackouts. 98% of the app users participated and, ultimately, MCE Sync reduced energy consumption from EV charging by over 5MWh over the 10-day period. Drivers will receive cash compensation for their participation.
The partners say the ability to reduce energy consumption at critical times is an invaluable resource to help the state avoid outages. They add that shifting EV charging out of peak hours will become increasingly important as California prepares to ban the sale of combustion-engine vehicles beginning in 2035.
