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HIGHLAND, Maryland (WBAL) -- Brian Foreman's Ford F-150 isn't your average pickup truck. It's more like a personal power plant.
"One of the reasons we bought it was because we don't have a backup generator for our house and we live in an area with a lot of exposed powerlines. So, we are always worried whenever a storm comes through and the trees start swinging that we are going to lose power," Foreman told 11 News. "When we saw that this truck was available, the electric vehicle, and could power your house in case of a backup, we knew we were all in."
Once Foreman and his wife got the F-150 Lightning truck, Sunrun, a home solar power company, installed a home integration system that allowed the couple to use the truck to power their home during a grid power outage.
Earlier this year, they learned about a program to use the truck to power their home — even if the grid is on — to help take some pressure off Baltimore Gas and Electric's grid during peak hours.
"In the summer months, Monday through Friday, when people come home from work and turn on their air conditioning, they want their nice, cool house," Foreman told 11 News. "It puts a lot of strain on the grid for electricity that's available, so during those hours between 5 and 9 p.m. at night, our truck is plugged in, and it's powering our house instead of using power from the grid."
It's part of a first-of-its-kind vehicle-to-home bidirectional charging program launched by BGE, Sunrun and Ford to help reduce peak energy use, reduce air pollution and lower electricity costs.
According to BGE, the Foremans are the first customers in the country to draw energy from their F-150 Lightning into their home on a set schedule, irrespective of the status of their electric service.
"We have been early adopters on a lot of things. We were early adopters on the Tesla and we are early adopters on this Ford truck," Foreman told 11 News. "My wife and I are always interested in being one of the first to do something."
And they hope they're not the last. Foreman said BGE pays him to be a part of the program. He hopes more people will jump on board.
"If it is right for you to have an electric vehicle, this is just an added bonus on top of that," Foreman told 11 News.
BGE's vehicle-to-home pilot program will start by enrolling a small group of customers with the same setup as the Foremans to collect data before expanding the program.
