As EV load grows, utilities use managed charging to harness flexibility, lower costs. Active managed charging can delay costly system upgrades while saving customers money, utilities, automakers and aggregators say, but a lack of standardized data-sharing is slowing adoption. Published April 9, 2026 The 7.2 million electric vehicles in the United States are simultaneously driving the need for grid upgrades and providing utilities with a powerful tool to defer those expenses. U.S. utilities are working with third-party software providers and automakers to develop and scale managed charging programs that can spread out the EV charging load and avoid creating peaks that stress local systems, helping to defer infrastructure upgrades that drive up rates. Manufacturers including General Motors, Ford and Rivian also have seen value in these programs and are partnering with distributed resource service providers like EnergyHub, WeaveGrid and Chargescape to improve customer experience and access to these programs. Despite federal policy changes in 2025 that withdrew support for EVs, sales have so far remained more or less consistent. The battery electric vehicle share of U.S. car sales in March was estimated to be 5.2%, sustaining the 5% share that segment has averaged since November 2025, S&P Global reported. Even before the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran spiked gas prices, EV load was expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Managed charging - commonly referred to as V1G to indicate the one-way flow of energy from the grid to the vehicle - is already being used to shift load from peak demand hours. But exploiting its full potential for reliability and cost savings will require standardized data-sharing protocols that have so far proven elusive for the industry, stakeholders told Utility Dive. "There is still work to do," said Zach Woogen, executive director of the Vehicle-Grid Integration Council. But by "growing partnerships" among automakers, utilities and aggregators, utilities can learn how to use managed charging "to make their systems more reliable and address the affordability crisis," he said. Seth Frader-Thompson, president of EnergyHub, a leading aggregator that partners with GM, Rivian, Toyota and Tesla on managed charging programs, offered a similar perspective. "Grid-aware managed charging ensures EVs can serve as a resource to manage the load growth we are seeing across the country," he said. From passive to active managed charging. "The technology of managed charging, or smart charging, is quite mature, and there are no technological hurdles," said Dave McCreadie, director of EV-grid services at Ford. "Communications between utilities, automakers, aggregators and their vehicles has been demonstrated over and over across many utility programs and has worked well." In addition to avoiding demand peaks through managed charging, EVs can be integrated into the grid as bidirectional assets that not only store power for driving but also provide backup power to homes (which is called V2H, vehicle to home) and export energy to the distribution system (V2G, vehicle to grid) or any other external system (V2X, vehicle to everything). But the first step is moving from passive to active managed charging, industry sources said. In 2025, legislative or regulatory efforts in 32 states and Puerto Rico addressed improving residential access to managed charging, according to the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center's annual state electric vehicle policy review. Many utilities already offer "passive" managed charging programs that use time-of-use rates to encourage customers to charge during off-peak hours, but the utilities still rely on customers to manage their own charging schedules. As the technology has matured, utilities are increasingly turning to "active" managed charging, whereby the customer largely turns over charging capabilities to the utility or service provider, which can adjust the load in real time based on system conditions. Regulators approved nine new active managed charging programs last year, according to the state EV policy North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center's review. "Utilities see the millions of EVs in their territories as flexible load that they can tap into just when data center demand is placing strain on their systems." Joseph Vallone CEO of Chargescape, which aggregates Ford, BMW, Honda, Nissan, Tesla, Stellantis and Rivian vehicles for over a dozen power utilities. Experts say active managed charging can avoid some of the unintended consequences that have plagued passive programs. For example, in California, passive managed charging has led to a secondary peak right after midnight, when the rate drops.

WeaveGrid and Synop partner to unlock commercial energy and EV charging flexibility for utilities and fleet operators. Partnership lays the groundwork for more coordination between utilities and fleet operators and charging providers. San Francisco, CA - March 24, 2026 - WeaveGrid, a leading provider of distribution-level grid orchestration software for distributed energy resources, and Synop, a leading commercial energy and EV charging management provider, today announced a new partnership to support a more resilient, reliable electric grid. The collaboration will connect Synop's AI-enabled platform with WeaveGrid's DISCO (Distribution-Integrated System Capacity Orchestration) software to provide utilities with greater visibility into commercial charging and new tools to enable flexible load control at the grid edge. The partnership builds on WeaveGrid's expansion of DISCO beyond residential EV charging to integrate commercial charging infrastructure and other distributed energy resources (DERs). By connecting directly with a leading EMS and CMS provider like Synop, WeaveGrid aims to help utilities better manage growing EV load while accelerating transportation electrification. "As commercial fleets electrify and complex charging sites are developed, utilities need more granular visibility and control at the distribution level," said John Taggart, President and Co-Founder of WeaveGrid. "Partnering with Synop allows us to extend DISCO's capabilities to commercial charging environments while leveraging the expertise of CMS providers in meeting the specific and verified needs of fleets and charging site owners." For Synop, the collaboration builds on its expanding energy management and grid edge capabilities, including SynopLink(TM), a site-level controller that coordinates EV chargers alongside behind-the-meter battery energy storage systems (BESS), generators, and other distributed energy resources - even in the absence of connectivity. SynopLink's interoperability with diverse energy assets also provides precise, granular data from complex fleet deployments. "Synop's AI-enabled software helps fleet and charge point operators optimize their energy assets to reduce costs and avoid utility interconnection and infrastructure upgrade wait times," said Synop CEO and Co-founder Gagan Dhillon. "Additionally, working with WeaveGrid helps our customers engage more directly with utility programs to unlock additional grid services revenue and ensure charging growth happens in alignment with grid needs." Advancing utility visibility and load flexibility. As commercial EV adoption accelerates across workplaces, depots, and fleet operations, utilities face increasing challenges forecasting load and managing localized grid constraints. Through this partnership, utilities will gain: * Enhanced visibility into commercial charging behavior, supporting more accurate load forecasting and distribution planning * New approaches for helping commercial and industrial charging customers manage charging load and reduce costs * Tools to enable flexible load management, including continuous optimization through on-site grid edge devices, rates, and signal integrations, as well as participation in demand response and load flexibility programs WeaveGrid's DISCO platform specializes in distribution-level management, optimizing load for real feeders and transformers. Applied to commercial charging, DISCO can enable more efficient, reliable, and secure utilization of the grid. Synop's EMS enables EV customers to participate in vehicle-to-grid opportunities and optimize charging around utility tariff programs such as time-of-use and demand response pricing, as well as capacity and grid services markets. Creating value for fleet operators and charging providers. The partnership also strengthens engagement with local utilities while expanding pathways for monetizing flexibility. Together, WeaveGrid and Synop will: * Support continued utility investment in charging installations, including shared commercial, multi-family, medium-duty, heavy-duty, workplace, and dedicated fleet charging depots * Mediate and co-develop sustainable monetization pathways for charging data and load flexibility * Navigate technical, financial, and programmatic barriers to enable greater participation of managed and bidirectional charging in utility programs Synop's trusted relationships with fleet and site owners, combined with WeaveGrid's utility integrations and grid expertise, will create a seamless interface between charging operators and utilities, generating value for both. By combining utility-grade orchestration with commercial charging expertise, WeaveGrid and Synop are laying the groundwork for a more coordinated, flexible, and scalable approach to commercial EV charging. About WeaveGrid WeaveGrid is the grid orchestration software that enables utilities to serve growing load reliably and affordably by aligning electric demand with grid capacity from the bottom up. Through Distribution-Integrated System Capacity Orchestration (DISCO), WeaveGrid provides asset-level visibility and device-level control, optimizing EVs, batteries, and other flexible loads exactly where constraints hit, from transformers up to the bulk system. WeaveGrid operates VPPs with hundreds of megawatts of flexibility for dozens of utilities across the country. About Synop Synop is the leading enterprise software platform for commercial EV charging and energy management, with 800 depots and 10,000 assets under management. Synop's AI-powered, hardware-agnostic platform manages EV and energy assets to keep fleets ready for duty while reducing energy costs. Active across North America and Europe, Synop supports fleets across light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicle classes. Synop meets customers where they are, whether that's exploring initial EV deployments or managing complex battery or microgrid deployments across multiple sites.

WeaveGrid and PowerFlex partner to advance grid flexibility through commercial managed charging. Announcements March 12, 2026 The companies are partnering to orchestrate large-scale EV charging and distributed energy resources to support utilities while rewarding commercial participants. PowerFlex and WeaveGrid are partnering to help utilities enable more EV charging and unlock greater flexible capacity for the grid. The companies are collaborating to demonstrate how intelligent EV charging and distributed energy resource (DER) orchestration at commercial sites can reduce grid stress, support decarbonization, and create new value streams for businesses and drivers. This collaboration brings together WeaveGrid's Distribution-Integrated System Capacity Orchestration (DISCO) platform and PowerFlex's adaptive EV charging solutions and PowerFlex X(TM) software, with a shared focus on scaling participation among commercial customers throughout PowerFlex's expansive commercial charging network. Why commercial managed charging matters for utilities. Utilities across the country are confronting rapid load growth from EVs, electrification, and data centers, but are often constrained by system capacity limitations, particularly at the distribution level. By supporting commercial managed charging and distributed flexibility, utilities can leverage their existing infrastructure more efficiently and shape demand to keep rates affordable for all. At the same time, these solutions help lower the total cost of ownership for site or fleet owners who are participating in these programs. Sites such as fleet depots, workplaces, multi-unit dwellings, and municipal facilities may operate dozens or even hundreds of EV chargers, representing hundreds of megawatts of dispatchable capacity sitting behind the meter. When those chargers are intelligently controlled, utilities can: * Support better site utilization: By utilizing both behind-the-meter and front-of-the-meter load balancing, commercial EV charging sites can support more charging per site by operating within both site and grid-level constraints. * Shape load at the asset level: By acting on utility signals in near real time, commercial sites can coordinate EV charging alongside other onsite DERs, shifting load away from peak periods while still meeting driver or fleet operational requirements. * Accelerate learnings: Through expansion of these pilots and programs, utilities can more easily measure grid impacts and verify savings, while also providing valuable insights into future system planning needs and the impact of flexible capacity. Through commercial managed charging, WeaveGrid and PowerFlex are acting on a shared belief that the path to a more resilient, affordable grid runs through smarter use of the infrastructure already being deployed. How the powerflex-weavegrid integration works. The collaboration combines each company's strengths in a way that is designed to be replicable across multiple utility territories: 1. WeaveGrid coordinates at the grid edge WeaveGrid's DISCO platform provides the utility-facing orchestration layer. DISCO translates grid constraints at the transformer, feeder, and bulk system level into dispatch instructions for participating assets. Those assets include commercial EV charging sites managed by PowerFlex in the utility service area, alongside other flexible loads and DERs supported by WeaveGrid. 2. PowerFlex optimizes charging at participating sites PowerFlex receives WeaveGrid's dispatch instructions and uses Adaptive Load Management(R)(ALM) technology to implement the requested load reduction. Charging is dynamically distributed across participating EV chargers so that site-level electrical constraints and driver or fleet requirements are still met. 3. Participants receive compensation and insights Subject to the specific program rules, participating customers may receive financial incentives such as bill credits or other rewards, while gaining greater visibility into how their charging behavior supports grid stability and sustainability goals. This end-to-end flow enables utilities to access flexible capacity from commercial EV charging in a way that is automated, measurable, and compatible with existing grid operations. WeaveGrid's DISCO platform: orchestrating flexible grid capacity. WeaveGrid's DISCO platform underpins the partnership's grid-facing functionality. Originally proven at scale in EV managed charging programs, DISCO has expanded to orchestrate a broader set of distributed energy resources, including batteries and other flexible loads. Key capabilities of DISCO include: * Hyper-local visibility: DISCO provides continuous, asset-level insight into flexible capacity on the distribution grid, enabling utilities to see when and where constraints are emerging. * Device-level orchestration: Through direct, authorized integrations with OEMs and connected devices, DISCO can coordinate behind-the-meter assets, such as EVs and batteries, to stay within transformer, feeder, and bulk system limits. * Single orchestration layer: Rather than managing separate programs by device type, utilities can use DISCO as a unified dispatch and orchestration platform for hundreds of megawatts of flexible load. * Capacity without accelerated upgrades: By smoothing local peaks exactly where they occur, DISCO helps utilities serve more load on existing infrastructure, potentially deferring costly grid upgrades while protecting reliability. In the context of this partnership, DISCO's orchestration capabilities are extended to include commercial EV charging sites powered by PowerFlex, giving utilities a more comprehensive view of, and greater control over, flexible load across their service territories. Adaptive Load Management & PowerFlex X: intelligent control at the site level. On the customer side, PowerFlex provides the EV charging hardware and software infrastructure to facilitate onsite load reduction. PowerFlex chargers are optimized with patented Adaptive Load Management(R) technology, which intelligently balances available power between individual ports in real time. Instead of simply dividing power equally or prioritizing by arrival time, ALM takes into account: * Driver or fleet schedules and required state of charge * Site-level power constraints and circuit limits * Utility demand charges and tariff structures * External signals, such as demand response or managed charging events For utilities, this means that when a WeaveGrid dispatch request is received, PowerFlex X with ALM can precisely modulate charging across dozens or hundreds of ports at a site to meet the requested reduction while still ensuring vehicles achieve the charge they need by departure time. For commercial customers, the same tools help: * Install up to 10x more chargers without major electrical upgrades * Save up to 60% on implementation costs * Avoid peak demand charges by flattening site load * Support fleet reliability and improve driver experience Managing integrated clean tech ecosystems. ALM is integrated into the PowerFlex X energy acceleration platform. The software combines the functions of an energy management system (EMS) and charging management system (CMS) with other capabilities to monitor, control, and optimize an organization's onsite energy assets holistically. Many PowerFlex customers pair EV charging with onsite solar arrays and battery energy storage. This combination of clean technologies creates additional value for utilities and participants in commercial managed charging programs: * Higher utilization of clean energy: Solar generation can help power EV chargers and replenish onsite batteries, reducing reliance on fossil-fueled grid power. * Peak shaving and TOU optimization: Stored energy can be dispatched during high-cost or high-demand periods, helping sites avoid demand charges and reduce their carbon footprint. * Microgrid and resilience capabilities: When solar, storage, and EV charging are configured as an islanded microgrid, facilities can maintain critical operations - including fleet readiness - during broader grid disruptions. * Virtual power plant participation: Combined DERs such as solar, storage, and EV charging can be aggregated into virtual power plants (VPPs), creating additional revenue opportunities through demand response and other grid services. By integrating these assets under PowerFlex X and connecting them to WeaveGrid's DISCO platform, utilities can tap into a richer, more flexible portfolio of distributed resources - both for managed charging pilots and for future grid services programs. An invitation to utilities: commercial managed charging. As the challenges inherent to EV adoption and electrification intensify, WeaveGrid and PowerFlex can help utilities: * Increase hosting capacity on existing distribution infrastructure * Maintain reliability as load becomes more dynamic and localized * Engage customers in programs that are both simple and financially compelling * Align EV charging with broader decarbonization and DER strategies If you represent a utility and are interested in exploring commercial managed charging, grid-edge flexibility, and integrated DER orchestration, reach out to WeaveGrid or PowerFlex today about incorporating its solution in your own service territory.