Vehicle-to-Grid and Vehicle-to-Building: How to Make Your Electrification Work for Your Organization

Date: September 16, 2026
Time: 2:45 PM – 3:45 PM
Ballroom B

This session offers a practical introduction to Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Vehicle-to-Building (V2B) technology through the real-world experiences of two California school districts that have successfully designed, installed, and benefited from these systems. Fremont Unified and Pittsburg Unified School Districts are sustainability leaders in K-12 education, and both have implemented V2X projects with funding through the California Energy Commission (CEC). Attendees will hear directly from district representatives alongside technical and implementation partners about what it took to get these projects off the ground – from securing funding to system design to day-to-day operation. Panelists will include representatives from Pittsburg Unified School District, Fremont Unified School District, World Resources Institute, The Mobility House, and Polara Energy. Electric buses represent the future of student transportation and V2G and V2B technology unlock a powerful additional benefit beyond the bus itself. V2G enables districts to feed excess electricity back to the grid during peak demand, brownouts, or natural disasters, turning their bus fleet into a community energy asset. V2B takes it a step further, allowing an electric bus to pull up to a school, plug in, and power the building, creating an emergency community hub when it’s needed most. This session gives attendees a firsthand look at what’s possible and a clear path to making it happen in their own district.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Attendees will leave this session with:

• A clear understanding of what V2G and V2B are
• Knowledge of the financial and sustainability benefits both technologies offer
  school districts
• A replicable blueprint for how districts can pursue V2G/V2B projects
• Practical guidance on how to successfully partner with agencies and organizations to design and implement a V2G or V2B project

Speakers:
Matthew Belasco, Director, Maintenance, Operations, and Transportation, Pittsburg Unified School District
Alan Glass, Retired Energy Manager, now Sustainability Consultant, Pittsburg Unified School District
Ernest Epley, Director of Transportation, Fremont Unified School District
Elizabeth Menchaca-Guhl, Energy Commission Specialist I, Emerging Opportunities, Agriculture, and Construction Unit, Fuels & Transportation Division
Alex Macharia, VGI Program Manager, The Mobility House
Sophie Young, Manager, Environmental Justice & Equity, World Resources Institute
Guillaume Brossard, Commercial VP, Polara Energy

Sophie Young is Manager of Environmental Justice and Equity at the World Resources Institute. She is an urban environmental planner with nearly 15 years of experience designing and implementing equitable and resilient development strategies. She previously co-designed and led California’s Transformative Climate Communities Program, an investment model for community-driven resilience planning and infrastructure. Sophie has also advanced sustainable transportation, housing, and green infrastructure policies at the local, state, and federal levels. She is on the advisory council of the Center for Creative Land Recycling and the Climate-SMART Development Committee of the Greenbelt Alliance.

Ernest “Erny” Epley is a nationally recognized leader in sustainable transportation and fleet electrification, helping redefine the role of school transportation in the clean energy transition. As Director of Transportation for Fremont Unified School District, he has led the deployment of one of California’s most innovative zero-emission school bus programs, demonstrating how electric school buses can improve student safety, reduce emissions, strengthen grid resilience, and deliver lasting value to communities.

With a career spanning public safety, transportation operations, and strategic leadership, Erny is known for turning ambitious ideas into practical, scalable solutions. His work at the intersection of transportation, energy, and technology has made Fremont Unified a model for vehicle-to-grid integration and collaborative partnerships among school districts, utilities, government agencies, and industry leaders.

A passionate advocate for innovation, Erny speaks frequently about the future of clean transportation, sharing real-world insights that inspire organizations to embrace electrification and rethink what’s possible. His mission is to help build resilient, sustainable transportation systems that benefit students, communities, and future generations.