The Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) EV Smart program won the PLMA Program Pacesetter Award at the 45th PLMA Annual Conference in Baltimore, April 4-6. The Program Pacesetter Award was given to two programs which had outstanding load management achievements in 2021. We’re thrilled that BGE and WeaveGrid received recognition for these innovative telematics-based programs. Read on to learn more about the rebate and time of use (TOU) programs that were recognized with this award.

‍Telematics-based program design delivers strong results and an excellent customer experience‍

The Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) EV Smart residential EV program is among the first programs to use electric vehicle (EV) telematics to provide insights on customer charging behavior and the very first program to use telematics to support an EV time-of-use (TOU) rate without the need of a utility installed meter for EV charging. The programs use the vehicle’s computer to measure EV-specific electricity usage and offer lower cost off-peak charging to participants, resulting in 96% of charging occurring during off-peak times.

Simple, easy enrollment process boosts participation in the rebate program

BGE’s residential offerings included a rebate program intended to introduce customers to utility EV programs, support the adoption of wifi-enabled Level 2 chargers to enable participation, and increase data sharing between residential customers and the utility.  The majority of EV owners in the BGE service territory, however, were installing non-networked wall chargers. To access these drivers, BGE partnered with WeaveGrid to enable program participation via EV telematics. With a streamlined onboarding process that typically takes drivers two minutes to sign up, there was a rapid acceleration of driver enrollment. The rebate program was so successful that it was fully subscribed in just over two years, even though BGE was approved to administer rebates over the course of five years.

Telematics-enabled EV-TOU Rate achieves 96% off-peak charging

Building on the success of telematics-enabled sign-ups for their rebate program, BGE launched an EV-TOU rate in January 2021 which offers a lower rate for off-peak charging of an EV without installing a separate meter. BGE has enrolled a significant number of customers in the EV-TOU program enabled by telematics without requiring customers to purchase additional hardware. The EV TOU rate has proven to be easy for customers to understand, and with ongoing driver behavioral coaching and personalized messaging from WeaveGrid, has shifted charging patterns from 80% off-peak charging to 96% off-peak charging.  

And we’re just getting started! This program design is highly successful and highly scalable

BGE’s innovative telematics-enabled programs in partnership with WeaveGrid have demonstrated that broad participation leads to increased levels of grid flexibility while also providing BGE with data on EVs that allows them to forecast where and when the peaks of the future will occur. These program designs are easily scalable to more EV drivers in BGE’s service territory and easily replicable in other utility service territories due to their easy enrollment, high levels of participation, and demonstrated shift in charging patterns. BGE is already expanding this offering  to increase program eligibility across more automakers and models with the goal of pushing even more EV Charging into off-peak hours.