Leveraging Electric School Buses for Peak Load Reduction in Distribution Systems: A Stochastic Two-Stage Optimization Model

Electric school buses (ESBs) are becoming increasingly widespread due to their health benefits, environmental friendliness, and incentives supporting the transition to net-zero emissions. This study proposes a novel stochastic two-stage optimization-based model to minimize the peak currents in a distribution system (DS) by leveraging the flexibility provided by vehicle-to-grid (V2G)-enabled ESBs. The model reduces peak current levels in a two-stage process, delaying potential upgrades within the DS while also accounting for the associated system costs. The proposed model’s performance is evaluated using real-world data and scenario-based simulations. Results demonstrate that peak current levels can be significantly reduced with only a 1.88% increase in total costs, highlighting the model’s effectiveness in optimizing DS operations.