Massachusetts EV Owners Can Now Sell Power Back to Grid

Imagine your parked electric car paying you back by powering your neighbor's home during a hot summer afternoon. That's exactly what's happening in Massachusetts, where a groundbreaking program is turning idle EVs into community power sources.

Five major companies, including Eversource, National Grid, and Sunrun, just launched a program called ConnectedSolutions that allows EV owners to sell their stored battery power back to the electricity grid. The pilot program starts with 60 residential customers and 21 electric school buses.

The timing couldn't be better for Massachusetts drivers. The state has some of the highest electricity costs in the nation at 34 cents per kilowatt hour, about 66% higher than the national average. That translates to roughly $310 monthly for typical households.

Here's how it works: When electricity demand peaks and prices spike, participating EV owners can send power from their car batteries back to the grid and get paid for it. The rest of the time, their cars charge normally and stay ready to drive.

The program doesn't require fancy setups. Participants don't need to live in specific areas or even have garages. Homes do need electrical systems strong enough to support bidirectional chargers, which both charge the car and send power back out.

Massachusetts already has 150,000 registered electric vehicles, and that number keeps growing. More car models now support this vehicle-to-grid technology, including the Chevrolet Silverado, Cadillac Lyriq, Kia EV9, and Tesla Cybertruck. Even more models are expected to offer the feature soon.

The Ripple Effect: This program shows how individual choices can strengthen entire communities. When thousands of parked EVs become backup power sources, they reduce strain on the grid during peak hours when power plants struggle most. Schools are already joining in, using electric buses to provide power when students head home for the day.

The program opens new possibilities for anyone worried about both rising energy costs and climate change. EVs become more than transportation, they become household assets that generate income while fighting pollution.

Applications for the next round of participants are open now. With energy prices climbing and more bidirectional EVs hitting the market, your next car might just help power your neighborhood while saving you money.