V2G today feels much like rooftop solar two decades ago — full of potential but not yet mainstream. In Scaling V2G: Lessons from Distributed Solar, V2G News looked at the policies and strategies that fueled solar’s growth. This piece picks up the thread by asking whether utilities will run the same playbook that many critics say was used to challenge rooftop solar — and how V2G can be ready this time.
In 2021, the Frontier Group and Environment America released a report with a provocative title: Blocking Rooftop Solar. The document alleged that utilities across the U.S. systematically undermined policies that supported residential solar adoption. According to the authors, the tactics ranged from lobbying and making political contributions to more technical measures, such as imposing high fixed charges or pressuring regulators to weaken net-metering rules.
The report argued that these actions weren’t isolated incidents but reflected a coordinated strategy to slow a technology that threatened a business model built on centralized generation and steady capital investment. Examples included a failed Florida ballot measure that would have inserted barriers into the state constitution, high demand charges in Kansas that discouraged new solar adopters, and California proposals for nation-leading fixed fees on solar households. The report’s recommendations urged policymakers to resist rollbacks, consider full system benefits, and avoid discriminatory charges.
But Was It Accurate?
It’s fair to ask whether the narrative was as clear-cut as presented. Utilities often defended their positions by pointing to cost-shift concerns—arguing that solar households avoided paying their “fair share” of grid upkeep. Critics of the report note that it painted with a broad brush, downplaying legitimate debates about equitably allocating costs and benefits in a changing grid. Whether one sees a corporate protection play or an argument over fair pricing, the rooftop solar story shows how disruptive technologies can clash with entrenched models.
How Rooftop Solar Scaled—Fast
It’s also true that, over roughly two decades, the rooftop solar industry has evolved from a niche to a multi-billion-dollar market, with more than 4.2 million U.S. households now having gone solar. Policy design—not just technology—did the heavy lifting. Three pillars mattered most:
- Interconnection: Clear, standardized, and time-bound processes (plus widely adopted technical standards) gave regulators and utilities confidence while reducing developer/customer friction.
- Compensation (NEM / net billing): Predictable export crediting created bankable cash flows and unlocked third-party finance. As markets matured, some states evolved toward “pay-for-value,” but the early growth engine was simple, understandable compensation.
- Incentives: Federal tax credits, state rebates, and enabling frameworks for PPAs/leasing pulled down upfront costs and broadened access.
These pillars did not eliminate controversy, but together they established a coherent pathway from early adopters to scale.
Could V2G Trigger the Same Utility Pushback?
Fast-forward to the 2030s. Imagine millions of EVs not just charging from the grid, but also discharging to buildings and the distribution grid. Fleets of school buses, delivery vans, and passenger cars acting as mobile storage could provide peak capacity, frequency response, and backup power. If scaled, V2G could defer or reduce some generation and wires investments—just as rooftop solar was credited with doing.
From a utility perspective, that’s both opportunity and risk. On one hand, V2G is flexible capacity that can help manage a renewables-heavy grid. On the other, widespread V2G could reduce revenue tied to capital expansion and shift control of reliability resources. If history is a guide, familiar tactics could resurface: recasting compensation as a “cost-shift” problem; using rate design (fixed fees, export rate limits, demand charges) to dull economics; and shaping public narratives around fairness or reliability.
What Can the V2G Industry Do Now?
If V2G does encounter the same skepticism and countermeasures solar faced, the question is how to respond. Unlike rooftop solar, which often found itself reacting, V2G still has time to anticipate challenges and shape the policy conversation before opposition hardens. The rooftop solar saga offers both caution and guidance—and it points to a parallel three-pillar roadmap for V2G.
| Interconnection for mobile, bidirectional resources | Create clear, scalable pathways for EVs and bidirectional EVSE—aligned with IEEE 1547/UL 1741 and modern communications standards—with time-bound utility review steps. Move from case-by-case review to standardized, rule-based screens. Encourage flexible, feeder-aware interconnection (e.g., export caps, locational screens) so utilities treat V2G as a controllable asset, not an uncontrolled risk. |
| Compensation that pays for services, not just energy | Lead with grid services—capacity, peak shaving, local deferral, fast demand response—using performance-based pay and utility-grade M&V. Use export rates and event-based payments that map to system need, while including minimum state-of-charge and host bill protections to pre-empt fairness concerns. Early programs can start with DR/VPP or distribution tariffs, with a clear glide path to wholesale aggregation where rules allow. |
| Targeted incentives to unlock first movers | Buy down incremental costs (bidirectional chargers, metering, etc.) and offer enrollment bonuses for fleets with high availability (school buses, municipal fleets). Align “make-ready” programs and public procurement with V2G-ready hardware and controls to seed bankable pipelines. Structure incentives to be time-limited and step down as scale drives down costs, while leveraging federal and state funding streams to accelerate adoption. |
The rooftop solar industry went from zero to a multibillion-dollar market in just two decades because it had three clear policy pillars: straightforward interconnection, workable compensation, and smart incentives. But those pillars alone weren’t enough — success also depended on strong execution.
Solar advocates built broad coalitions that spanned schools, businesses, and households, with organizations like Vote Solar and Solar United Neighbors giving ordinary consumers a platform to influence policy. Their efforts helped turn distributed generation into a mainstream movement rather than a niche technology. They also published credible data early and often, ensuring transparent results on costs, savings, emissions, and reliability. National groups like the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), along with state-level clean energy coalitions, stepped in early with analysis that countered the “cost-shift” narrative before it could take hold. And advocates engaged regulators proactively, working to co-design tariffs, interconnection rules, and settlement processes — rather than waiting to react to fully formed utility proposals.
For V2G, the same formula applies. School districts, municipalities, and emergency managers can become natural champions. Rigorous data can build confidence and preempt misinformation. And early, proactive collaboration with regulators will ensure the rules governing this technology are fit for purpose. Pair those execution basics with the right policy pillars, and V2G can proactively set the stage for rapid growth in the coming decades.
Looking Ahead
Will utilities run the same playbook against V2G that they allegedly ran against rooftop solar? It’s too early to say. The solar report may overstate coordination and understate legitimate policy debates—but it does show how quickly supportive policies can become contested as technologies scale. Yet utilities today are operating in a very different environment than they were two decades ago. Rapid electrification, accelerating load growth, the integration of variable renewables, and compressed timelines for infrastructure investment are reshaping the utility business model.
In this new paradigm, V2G is not just a customer technology at the grid edge—it can be a resource utilities use to manage peak demand, improve resilience, and buy time on costly upgrades. The lesson for V2G is clear: pair a compelling reliability narrative with the same three policy pillars that unlocked rooftop solar—modern interconnection, workable compensation, and targeted incentives. Do that, and the technology can be positioned as part of the utility toolkit for meeting the challenges of the next decade, rather than as a threat to be contained.
