Maryland couple first in US to use electric Ford truck to power their home

Brian Foreman is the first customer in the U.S. to draw energy from his Ford F-150 Lightning into his home on a set schedule, according to BGE. (Courtesy BGE)

A Howard County, Maryland, couple is the first in the nation to use their Ford electric truck to power their home on a set schedule.

One of the reasons that Brian Foreman and his wife bought a Ford F-150 Lightning truck was so they could use it as a backup energy source if their home was experiencing a power outage.

According to utility company BGE, the couple is now the first in the U.S. to draw energy from their truck into their home on a set schedule to take the stress off the power grid during peak usage.

During late afternoon and early evening hours on summer weekdays, when demand on the grid is higher, the couple’s truck is plugged in and powering their home instead of using power from the grid.

Using the Ford F-150 Lightning truck, with the Sunrun Home Integration System, according to BGE: “Sunrun and Ford’s technology takes advantage of interconnection with BGE to allow the F-150 Lightning Battery to work in concert with Foeman’s electric service, which means the grid supplements any load to his home that is greater than what the car can supply.”

In a BGE news release, Foreman said he enjoys being an early adopter and looks forward to providing feedback to the companies that are developing the infrastructure to electrify the transportation sector.

“In the future, electric vehicles will make the grid more resilient for all, including nonelectric vehicle owners,” he said.

This spring, Maryland became the first state to pass vehicle-to-grid legislation. The Distributed Renewable Integration and Vehicle Electrification Act, or DRIVE, requires utilities to develop interconnection processes for bidirectional charging.

The DRIVE Act requires BGE to establish a process to interconnect vehicle-to-grid-instillations by Nov. 1, 2024, and submit a pilot proposal utilizing vehicle-to-grid technology to the Maryland Public Service Commission by July 1, 2025.

“We know that the power stored in electric vehicles will be essential in our state’s effort to achieve its bold net-zero emissions goals,” said Mark Case, vice president of regulatory policy and strategy at BGE.

BGE’s vehicle-to-home pilot program will enroll and gather data from a small number of customers who own an F-150 Lightning paired with Ford Intelligent Backup Power — a Ford Charge Station Pro connected to the Sunrun Home Integration System, which the companies developed as the first commercially available bidirectional system in the U.S. market.

“Virtual power plants with bidirectional electric vehicles will play a key role in the clean energy transition,” said Chris Rauscher, Sunrun’s head of grid services.

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