SEPA and Bidgely Release Report on the Power of AI for Transportation Electrification

Hydro One and NV Energy success stories highlight innovative use of AI to improve EV adoption and integration

WASHINGTON & LOS ALTOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), in partnership with Bidgely, has released a new Insight Brief: AI for Transportation Electrification. SEPA's insight brief, designed to educate utility stakeholders, highlights how artificial intelligence (AI) enables advanced grid impact analysis and facilitates better management of future electric vehicle (EV) demand. Case studies from leading utilities like Hydro One and NV Energy demonstrate how AI-powered tools enhance program evaluation and customer recruitment for load-shifting initiatives through EV detection and charging characterization.

“SEPA’s collaboration with Bidgely underscores the critical role of AI in addressing the complexities of transportation electrification,” stated Sheri Givens, President and CEO of SEPA. “Together, we are providing utilities with practical strategies to advance EV adoption while ensuring grid resilience.”

With a focus on Bidgely’s disaggregation technology, SEPA outlines the key advantages utilities gain by disaggregating advanced meter infrastructure (AMI) data to gain insights into EVs and EV users in their service territories, including:

• Identify EV drivers more efficiently, as opposed to traditional self reports and surveys, for more accurate and personalized customer engagement.
• Access higher-quality EV charging characteristics, including differentiation of Level 1 and Level 2 chargers; hourly charging patterns (time of day, duration, and intensity); and amplitude of charges.
• Design better-targeted EV managed charging programs with the ability to measure variations in customer responses and improve future initiatives.
• Map transportation electrification trends to forecast EV load growth on individual grid assets and manage future infrastructure planning.

Detailing the innovative application of AI software by two North American utilities, the report explores how AI-powered data insights help solve unique challenges posed by EV adoption and integration.

For example, Hydro One, an electricity transmission and distribution utility serving the Canadian province of Ontario, identified 20,000 EVs charging on its grid via AMI data disaggregation—10 times more than were self-reported through customer surveys. Hydro One further refined its customer engagement strategy using AI-powered consumption insights to personalize messages for enrollment in a pilot EV demand response program, resulting in 300 signups within 24 hours.

For NV Energy, a generation, transmission, and distribution utility serving northern and southern Nevada, AI-powered data disaggregation allowed the utility to gain a holistic understanding of how often EV drivers charge on-peak and how their behavior contributes to overall electricity demand. By using AI to identify certain customer use profiles and then engage only customers with high-value baseline charging behavior, NV Energy achieved a load-shift potential of 2 - 4 kilowatts (kW)/vehicle per managed charging event as opposed to typical load shifts of 0.2 - 0.8 kW/vehicle per event— 2.5 times to 10 times greater load-shift on average. Targeted load shifting initiatives like these can enhance utilities’ system resilience capabilities as EV charging increases, while yielding cost efficiencies for utilities and customers.

"AI is crucial for utilities to proactively address the grid challenges posed by the surge in electric vehicles," stated Abhay Gupta, CEO of Bidgely. "We support SEPA in creating a valuable resource that underscores the importance of developing sophisticated EV programs powered by AI-driven data analytics."

To read SEPA’s Insight Brief: AI for Transportation Electrification in its entirety, visit: sepapower.org/resource/insight-brief-ai-for-transportation-electrification

About SEPA

The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), a 501(c)(3) organization with over 1,000 members, accelerates the transition to a clean, affordable, and resilient electricity system for all. SEPA engages with its diverse membership -- which includes utilities, policymakers, regulators, and technology providers -- through education, collaboration and convening, and the search for innovative policy, regulatory, and technology solutions. For more information, please visit www.sepapower.org.

About Bidgely

Bidgely is an AI-powered SaaS Company accelerating a clean energy future by enabling energy companies and consumers to make data-driven energy-related decisions. Powered by our unique patented technology, Bidgely's UtilityAI™ Platform transforms multiple dimensions of customer data - such as energy consumption, demographics, and interactions - into deeply accurate and actionable consumer energy insights. We leverage these insights to empower each customer with personalized recommendations, tailored to their individual personality and lifestyle, usage attributes, behavioral patterns, purchase propensity, and beyond. From a distributed energy resources (DER) and grid edge perspective, Bidgely is advancing smart meter innovation with data-driven solutions for solar PVs, electric vehicle (EV) detection, EV behavioral load shifting and managed charging, energy theft, short-term load forecasting, grid analytics, and time of use (TOU) rate designs. Bidgely’s UtilityAI™ energy analytics provides deep visibility into generation and consumption for better peak load shaping and grid planning, and delivers targeted recommendations for new value-added products and services. With roots in Silicon Valley, Bidgely has over 16 energy patents, $75M+ in funding, retains 30+ data scientists, and brings a passion for AI to utilities serving residential and commercial customers around the world. For more information, please visit www.bidgely.com or the Bidgely blog at bidgely.com/blog.