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Power Perspectives: Can EVs drive grid stability?

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With fleet electrification accelerating, utilities face both opportunities and challenges in managing EV demand and leveraging vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. In this episode, Mark Braby, Chief Commercial Officer at Synop, joins Power Perspectives to discuss that rapidly evolving relationship between utilities and the transportation sector.

Listen in as Mark discusses:

  • The transformative role of software in uniting fleet operators and utilities for electrification success.
  • Key use cases demonstrating the real-world impact of V2G technology on grid operations.
  • The critical data needs of utilities to ensure grid stability amid increasing EV adoption.
  • The evolving relationship between utilities and transportation over the next decade, including autonomous fleets and smart charging.

For utility leaders, fleet managers, and anyone invested in the electrification journey, this episode is packed with actionable insights. Join host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester as they explore how fleet electrification is reshaping the energy landscape with Mark Braby.

Prefer to Read vs. Listening? Scroll Down to Read Transcript

Thanks to the sponsor of this episode of the Power Perspectives: West Monroe

 

Key Links:

Mark Braby's Energy Central Profile: https://energycentral.com/member/profile/mark-braby

Ask a Question to Our Future Guests: Do you have a burning question for the utility executives and energy industry thought leaders that we feature each week on Power Perspectives? Leave us a message here for your chance to be featured in an upcoming episode: www.speakpipe.com/EnergyCentralPodcast 

 

TRANSCRIPT

Jason Price:

As the energy and transportation sectors continue to converge, fleet electrification strategy is emerging as a critical frontier. For utilities, rise of electric vehicles means more than just news sources of demand. It's an opportunity to leverage EVs as dynamic great assets. Yet making this mission a reality isn't without challenges. What role do fleet operators and utilities need to play? And how can software bridge the gap between these stakeholders to unlock the full potential of vehicle-to-grid technology? Joining us today to help answer those questions is Mark Braby, Chief Commercial Officer at Synop, and we're eager to hear how Mark has tackled many of these opportunities and also bumped upon new challenges, both ones that were in the roadmap as well as more that were unexpected.

I am Jason Price, your host, coming to you from New York City. With me as always is Matt Chester, Energy Central producer and community manager from Orlando, Florida. Matt, we've seen so much discussion on Energy Central about the challenges and opportunities of integrating EVs into the grid, as we kick off the 2025 season what's top of mind for the utility decision makers in Energy Central when it comes to EVs?

 

Matt Chester:

Yeah, Jason, I know on Energy Central and even here on our podcast, it seems like we've had a recent influx of community interest in the V2G conversation and, of course, electric vehicles overall. And whether that's from policies that are making them more accessible, the technology improving and becoming more ubiquitous, or even because utilities are already starting to feel that impact quicker than they anticipated on the grid, it all comes down to what you just said, the need for utility decision makers to truly plan in earnest for what does the electrification of transportation mean for their needs. And actually we're moving well past the planning and into that implementation stage. So early wins and failures across the country's power companies represent some critical lessons for our community members to know how, where and when to bolster their grid assets to meet these evolving customer requirements and ensure, again, what it comes down to is we want to keep the lights on, we want to keep power reliable, and that's the name of the game I think.

 

Jason Price:

Fantastic. Thanks Matt. And before we dive in, a quick thank you to West Monroe, sponsor of today's show. Now let's get started. Mark Braby, welcome to the Energy Central Power Perspectives podcast.

 

Mark Braby:

Thank you so much, Jason, Matt, glad to be here.

 

Jason Price:

Well, we're thrilled to have you. Let's dig right in. So fleet electrification is massive. It's a massive undertaking not just for operators but also for the utilities managing the grid. You work not for the fleet operators nor the utilities, but in the world of software that's trying to unite these areas. Can you give us a broad overview of what role you play in this space?

 

Mark Braby:

Yeah, absolutely. At Synop, what we've created is a pure play software platform that connects all the different components of a fleet electrification project. So we connect to the vehicle, pull telematics data from the vehicle, things like state of charge, battery health, we connect to the chargers, pull data off the chargers, we connect to the grid pull things like utility rate information. And then what we do is bring all that information together and surface that for the fleet operator. And then we provide analytics optimization, all sorts of tools so that the fleet operator can manage the uptime of its electric fleet while also minimizing costs. So our role is that software that brings all the different components together and allows a fleet to manage its EV, its electric vehicles.

 

Jason Price:

Fantastic. So V2G, it's certainly a buzzword, but it's becoming more reality today and it's been a topic on the podcast before. We're seeing going from pilots to now broader action. What are some of the key use cases you can highlight to show this isn't just a potential concept anymore, but something actual that's being applied to the grid?

 

Mark Braby:

And so we've been working with utilities for about three years and it started out with kind of small pilots and started out with just a handful of utilities and it's just significantly progressed from there. And so we're now working with seven utilities around V2G. Some are still in pilot stage, but some have gone well beyond pilot stage. And so we've seen it really progress over the years. We've seen the number of vehicle manufacturers really progress in terms of their ability to do V2G. The number of charger manufacturers that are involved has progressed as well. And so we're kind of the glue that brings it all together, but it's really come a long ways in the past few years.

 

Jason Price:

Mark, what are some other use cases that you're working on or use cases you'd like to share with our audience?

 

Mark Braby:

Yeah, there's a wide spectrum of ways we're working with utilities around V2G and even the details of the interaction as well. And so with some of the V2G programs, it's utilities actually sending us an email requesting energy or power at a certain capacity at a certain time of day. We respond to that email whether we can fit into a fleet schedule or not, and then we schedule it accordingly with the fleet and then transact. It's a very manual way. We've also gone very deep on the integration perspective where that whole process is automated. So essentially we receive a signal from a utility that they need energy or power at a certain time of day. We automatically see if we can fit it into the schedule, give a yes/no, and it's all done via API. So that involves a software integration, but we've done that with a couple utilities.

And then even further we've gone with a few utilities is actually integrating into their distribution management system, so their DERM system. And so we've done that on a couple of occasions where there's both real-time visibility, so the utility can actually see the fleet's charging schedule, see the charging behavior, see how it evolves different seasons, different times of year, and then gain insight into how that fleet's charging, what the loads are going to look like. That gives them better capabilities to predict and forecast what the loads can look like and also forecast when they could actually support the grid in certain use cases.

And then on top of that, they'll also request either demand response, demand-side actions or V2G. And again, given we have that integration, we can do that all automatically. So that whole process is automated between utility sending the signal, us seeing if we can fit it into the fleet's charging schedule and then actually doing the transaction, executing the transaction. So there's a wide spectrum of where we're at in automation in terms of technology, but it kind of fits where utilities are at as well and where they're at on their electrification journey.

 

Jason Price:

One of the big concerns that utilities have is just the awareness, the understanding of the impact of EVs on grid stability and grid planning, not just on a daily basis, on an hour-to-hour basis, on a minute-to-minute basis. So talk to us, what are the data needs that you hear the utility side needing to manage to make this all feasible as its practical technology today?

 

Mark Braby:

Yeah, I mean when you think about EVs and their role for utilities, I mean it's a massive opportunity is one way to think about it. So it's a massive potential for load, but it's also a massive potential for problems. You need predictability around this load. I mean utilities, at the end of the day, their job is to keep the lights on and to manage grid uptime. And so what they really want is predictability and visibility. And so I think just understanding when these loads are going to come, when these vehicles are going to charge, where the chargers are at, is super critical. And so that's the role Synop can play is providing that visibility. And that's one of the ways we've been working with utilities. So B2G is one way, sending energy back to the grid. Demand-side management's another way, so just mitigating load at certain times.

But also just the third action there is providing that visibility, just having the data of where the chargers are at, when the load's going to happen, what the charging behaviors of these fleets are going to be. And so we're seeing that across light duty vehicles, that could be vehicles that a utility even has in their own fleet that they're operating. We're seeing that medium duty vehicles, can be last mile delivery vehicles, can be school buses. And we're seeing that in terms of heavy duty as well, that's the long haul applications, could be critical applications. So understanding each of these different use cases, where the vehicles are charging, when they're going to charge, what that load looks like, and having that real time data is super important to utilities.

 

Jason Price:

Sure. And certainly vehicle-to-the-grid is an exciting frontier, still in the early stages, but what other innovations are you seeing in the EV space that's playing a significant role in bolstering grid resilience, particularly during extreme weather events? What are you hearing in this area from the utilities?

 

Mark Braby:

Yeah, so I think whether it's sending energy back V2G, certainly one area, I mean we're seeing that in different seasons now. So typically it was only during summer months, and so we saw it during the hot weather months, big AC loads. Now we're seeing it in winter months, so during the cold snaps we've done V2G transactions and supported the grid during winter months. I think some other type of innovations are building management, combining vehicle EVs with building management, combining it with other generators and loads as well, is super important. So I think it's combining different micro-grid aspects we're really seeing. And so we have a project, for instance, out in California, where we're combining generators with battery storage with EVs, and all working with the utility to not only manage an interconnection queue that the utility's try to manage and keep the transformer and substation upgrades needed to a minimum, but also working with the utility on demand response and B2G from this side as well. So it's bringing together a number of different components of generation plus load and it's kind of bi-directional communication and working with these utilities to support the grid.

 

Jason Price:

Let's talk about innovation. I mean utilities, as we all know, don't tend to drive innovation, although that is changing and certainly some utilities are further ahead than others from a cultural and investment standpoint. But generally speaking, I think it's fair to say that innovation really comes from the marketplace, from the tech startups. They have that culture of taking more risk. But from your experience, what role do utilities play in fostering innovation, particularly as we're talking about fleet electrification? How can they position themselves as leaders in this rapidly evolving space and take advantage of some of these innovations or opportunities to innovate?

 

Mark Braby:

Yeah, I think utilities play a huge role. Obviously the grid of the future is a big aspect of where we're headed from an emissions perspective, but also where we're getting our power and energy. And so things are just going to get more distributed over time. And so working with things like whether it's EVs or solar or battery storage, is going to be really key for utilities staying on that innovation curve. And again, I think utilities can work with technology providers like us in a number of ways, and we can work with them on providing visibility into these assets. We can work with them on providing control and management of these assets. And it's all about that bi-directional back and forth between these assets and the utilities' traditional way of managing the grid that's going to really lead us into the future.

 

Jason Price:

Sure. Well, I want to ask you a little bit more about that. So from your experience working from the fleet electrification side of things, what lessons can early fleet pilots drive that could lead, to say, larger scale projects? In other words, how can utilities replicate and scale success across their territories with the projects that you're working on around fleet electrification?

 

Mark Braby:

Yeah, I mean what we've seen with a number of utility partners is they've just started out with managing their internal fleet. And so they've electrified a few of their internal fleet vehicles, done some testing, gotten used to charging hardware, gotten used to the software, maybe done some demand response piloting, perhaps done some V2G piloting and then kind of progressed from there to how they want to work with their customers. And so it's been that kind of proving ground, that sandbox, to really expand from there. And then utilities in some jurisdictions where they can, they will want to own operate charging infrastructure for their customers. And we've seen some utilities do that, offer a charging as a service type of offering for their customers, manage the infrastructure, be able to take that knowledge gap from the customer. I mean, it's a big step for a lot of fleet customers going from managing ice vehicles to now managing Vs. So my trusted utility who understands energy and power better than anybody can come in and say, "I'm actually going to manage these chargers for you," that adds a lot of credibility to it.

Some utilities aren't able to do that, either may not want to or may not from a regulation perspective be able to do that. But utilities can still play a role there in terms of being that trusted advisor for the end customer and just really explaining what charger to buy, AC or DC, how the utility rate is going to work with their new fleet vehicles, what their new fuel cost is going to be. So really that's what it is, it's their new fuel cost, so what their utility bill is going to look like after they electrify. And that can include strategies around when to charge. So energy and power are more expensive at different times of the day. There can be demand charges in certain areas.

So how is that utility bill going to look in the future? And then what can be some charging strategies to make sure, again, fleet uptime is most important, making sure the vehicles are charged for their use case, whether that's school buses or last mile delivery. And then managing cost is the other component to that. And so making sure they are able to manage that new fuel cost. And so being that trusted advisor is a role we've seen utilities want to play for not only residential customers but also kind of their large commercial users as well.

 

Jason Price:

All right, so let's talk about Synop for a moment. Your company is at the intersection between transportation and utilities, so you're neck deep into really looking at this space. Let's look out five to ten years down the road, what does that relationship between the utilities and the transportation sector look like and how do you see technologies like EV, autonomous EV and broader smart charging networks, how does all that shape that dynamic between the utility and transportation?

 

Mark Braby:

Yeah, I mean I think the lines are going to really blur. And so EVs are obviously batteries on wheels. And so these can be generation sources at scale for the utility. They're also massive loads. So I think having that bidirectional relationship where there's really visibility, communication, control and management is going to be really key. And so I think the connected network is the key to this whole thing working. So given utilities visibility and the certainty in these assets, having them be to be able to know where these loads are coming from, having visibility into these loads, I think is going to be super key. If you think about where fleets are headed, you can make the case that everything is a fleet over time. So if you think about where robo-taxis are headed and autonomous vehicles, you can make the case that individual vehicle ownership is going to decline over time as the cost of these ride-sharing applications, robo-taxis, really comes down at scale. And so when you think about autonomous and robo taxis, it goes hand-in-hand with electrification as well.

And so really that interplay of how these vehicles set up charging depots, work with utility on getting interconnected and then being able to optimally charge is where things are headed. And so AI plays a big role in that as well. And so at Synop we're leveraging AI already to be able to predict charging schedules and optimally schedule charging schedules for fleets. M so what we do is set constraints with AI and so we basically have objectives for the fleet and we can set it around ... Obviously uptime is the first one we're solving for, so making sure that vehicle's charged when it needs to be. Price cost is the second one.

But I think working with the utility, we can add a new constraint and that can be grid support. And so you can think about some sort of outage where we set the AI and the algorithm such as that the first constraint for that fleet of autonomous vehicles is to support the grid. They can play a massive in supporting the grid and be doing V2G all at once. That's where it's headed is this interplay between utilities, these big loads that are basically vehicles going around and how they work together.

 

Jason Price:

Yeah, I have to agree with you. I think you're spot on. More than one CEO at the utility has said, "Our future customer is the car, it's the automobile." So building around strategies on how to serve and how to optimize during congested traffic patterns, for example, would be the new ways of looking at what the future of the utility and the automobile relationship will look like. It's a really interesting dynamic that we're all trying to get our minds around. So Mark, great job. And what we have now entered is what we call the Lightning Round, which gives us all an opportunity to learn a little bit more about you the person rather than you the professional. We're going to throw a bunch of questions at you, five or six. We ask you to keep your response to one word or phrase. So are you ready?

 

Mark Braby:

Ready. Let's do it.

 

Jason Price:

All right, here we go. We've talked about the future of transportation, but looking backwards, what was your first car?

 

Mark Braby:

My first car was a Ford Escort and it was a special brand of Ford Escort, so it was a Pony, Ford Escort Pony, which we always laughed about because it meant it had a couple of extra horsepower underneath the hood. Yeah, very small car. It was probably 10 years old when I first bought it.

 

Jason Price:

What's a hobby you wish you had more time for?

 

Mark Braby:

I am a big soccer player, so it's not only time, but it's also knee. But yeah, I wish I had more time to play soccer. I coach now, which is fun, coach my kids, but I wish I had more time to play at some point.

 

Jason Price:

Share with us the most exciting aspect of working in this space.

 

Mark Braby:

Yeah, I think the most exciting, most exciting aspect is working at the intersection of legacy industries, which are utilities and automotive, these industries that are seeing massive changes, and then also being on the technology side of it. So being able to bring technology to these legacy industries, help them out, help them solve where things are headed in terms of electrification, is super interesting. Being able to leverage things like AI as well, and being at the forefront of that and being able to work with these legacy industries around things of that nature.

 

Jason Price:

I'm looking at my list of questions from former guests that we ask to ask future guests. So here's one from Levi Larsen of Idaho National Lab. Are you ready?

 

Mark Braby:

Ready.

 

Jason Price:

Okay. Is a hot dog a sandwich?

 

Mark Braby:

I would say no. When I think a sandwich I think is split bread. So a hot dog's got a bun, right? So no, give it a no.

 

Jason Price:

Okay. Like your thinking. Now it's your turn. What Lightning Round question would you like to ask a future guest that's either energy or energy-related or anything that's off the ball?

 

Mark Braby:

Oh, I don't know if I have anything as interesting as the hot dog question, but if you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and why?

 

Jason Price:

And lastly, Mark, what are you most motivated by?

 

Mark Braby:

I am most motivated by impact. That's why I really like this electrification sector. I think we're solving technology issues, we're working with large industries and we're also solving the emissions issue. So 35% of emissions come from transportation, and so having an impact, bringing electrification to the forefront, helping it scale, is really motivating from solving emissions issues and being at the forefront of solving climate change as well.

 

Jason Price:

Well, nicely done and thank you for indulging us, giving us an opportunity to learn a little bit more about yourself. So we're going to give you the final word, and knowing that we have listeners from the utility space, from the C-suite down, what were some lasting words or final words you'd like to share with them?

 

Mark Braby:

Yeah, so I think supporting small software firms is super important. I think being open to dynamic pilots with firms like us is important to driving innovation and important to driving things like electrification. So look forward to continuing to work with more and more utilities.

 

Jason Price:

Fantastic. I'm sure our listeners will have lots of questions and comments, so I want to thank you for taking time to talk to us today, and I know that you'll probably continue the conversation on Energy Central's platform. So I want to thank you again. Until that note, thank you for your insight. Thank you for joining us on the podcast. Thank you for being on the video podcast, our inaugural one, so I want to thank you for that and we look forward to having a future conversation with you.

 

Mark Braby:

Yeah, I greatly appreciate it Jason, great to be here.

 

Jason Price:

And like I said, you can always reach Mark through the Energy Central platform where he welcomes your questions and comments. We also want to give a shout-out of thanks to our sponsors that made today's episode possible. Thanks to West Monroe. West Monroe is a leading partner for the nation's largest electric gas and water utilities, working together to drive grid modernization, clean energy and workforce transformation. West Monroe's comprehensive services are designed to support utilities in advancing their digital transformation, building resilient operations, securing federal funding, and providing regulatory advisory support. With a multi-disciplinary team of experts, West Monroe offers a holistic approach that addresses the challenges of the grid today and provides innovative solutions for a sustainable future.

Once again, I'm your host Jason Price. Plug in and stay fully charged in the discussion hopping into the community at energycentral.com. And we'll see you next time at the Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast.

 

About Energy Central Podcasts

Power Perspectives features conversations with thought leaders in the utility sector. At least twice monthly, we connect with an Energy Central Power Industry Network community member to discuss compelling topics that impact professionals who work in the power industry. Some podcasts may be a continuation of thought-provoking posts or discussions started in the community or with an industry leader that is interested in sharing their expertise and doing a deeper dive into hot topics or issues relevant to the industry.

Power Perspectives is the premiere podcast series from Energy Central, a Power Industry Network of Communities built specifically for professionals in the electric power industry and a place where professionals can share, learn, and connect in a collaborative environment. Supported by leading industry organizations, our mission is to help global power industry professionals work better. Since 1995, we’ve been a trusted news and information source for professionals working in the power industry, and today our managed communities are a place for lively discussions, debates, and analysis to take place. If you’re not yet a member, visit www.EnergyCentral.com to register for free and join over 200,000 of your peers working in the power industry.

Power Perspectives is hosted by Jason Price, Community Ambassador of Energy Central. Jason is a Business Development Executive at West Monroe, working in the East Coast Energy and Utilities Group. Jason is joined in the podcast booth by the producer of the podcast, Matt Chester, who is also the Community Manager of Energy Central and energy analyst/independent consultant in energy policy, markets, and technology.  

If you want to be a guest on a future episode of Power Perspectives, let us know! We’ll be pulling guests from our community members who submit engaging content that gets our community talking, and perhaps that next guest will be you! Likewise, if you see an article submitted by a fellow Energy Central community member that you’d like to see broken down in more detail in a conversation, feel free to send us a note to nominate them.  For more information, contact us at [email protected]. Podcast interviews are free for Expert Members and professionals who work for a utility.  We have package offers available for solution providers and vendors. 

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