The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) have started the Eco-Hub pilot program, which aims to show how electric vehicle bi-directional charging can help support the state’s power grid and possibly lower energy costs.
Bi-directional charging allows electric vehicles to not only draw power from the grid but also send stored battery energy back to homes, buildings, or the grid itself. The first phase of this initiative will see two schools—Christina Seix Academy in Trenton and Hanover Park Regional High School District in Hanover Park—equipped with both bi-directional charging stations and electric school buses.
These schools will also receive electricity from on-site solar panels and batteries managed by a microgrid controller, which oversees storage and distribution of surplus solar energy. Funding for the pilot comes from the DEP’s Electric School Bus program as well as an additional $4 million provided by NJBPU for bi-directional and Vehicle to Grid (V2G) infrastructure.
“New Jersey is leading the way in clean transit, transforming school buses into energy hubs that power our schools and will add over 2,100 MWh of storage to the grid,” said NJBPU President Christine Guhl-Sadovy. “The Eco-Hub pilot provides a real-world roadmap to scale this smart infrastructure, cutting pollution while protecting our students and our energy future.”
The state’s Electric School Bus Grant Program—a joint effort between DEP and NJBPU—will soon bring more than 240 electric school buses into service across New Jersey. In addition, eight other schools are being evaluated for their capacity to join similar projects based on factors such as available space, potential timelines, costs, and their ability to support new electrical loads. These studies are expected to result in at least two more projects being developed.
