How could this actually work?
Marin Power connects resources that already exist in our community—EVs, portable pumps, volunteers and local knowledge—to provide temporary pumping support when flooding threatens a property.
The idea is simple:
Power → Pump → Connection → Coordination
1. A location identifies a need
- A homeowner or business can tell us about a location that may need pumping support.
- The location is evaluated in advance so we can understand whether Marin Power may be able to help and what resources would be appropriate.
- This is self-matching, not self-service. The technology can help identify potential matches, but people still assess locations, equipment and conditions before anything is deployed. (Precise address remain private until a match decides to reveal more..)
2. An EV can provide temporary power
- Some EVs can provide electrical power outside the vehicle.
- With an appropriate, tested connection, that power can operate a portable pump without requiring the property to have its own backup generator.
- Not every EV qualifies. Marin Power will only work with vehicle and equipment combinations that have been evaluated and determined to be appropriate.
3. Portable pumps move the water
The pilot is designed around portable pumps that can provide temporary assistance rather than replace permanent drainage infrastructure.
- We are initially considering two levels of pumping capability:
- Level 1: light-duty pumping for smaller or more manageable water-management needs.
- Level 2: heavy-duty pumping for substantially greater water movement.
The goal is to support approximately 12–24 hours of temporary pumping, depending on the equipment, available power and conditions.
Detailed pump and electrical specifications will be maintained separately for participants and volunteers.
4. People make the system work
- The equipment is only one part of Marin Power.
- Volunteers are needed to evaluate locations, understand equipment requirements, coordinate resources, support deployment and help maintain safe operating practices.
- They are not emergency responders.
- Training, assessment and human judgment remain essential. No software can determine whether conditions are safe enough to deploy.
5. Matching happens before the storm
- The most important part of Marin Power happens before water is rising.
- A potential location can be evaluated in advance. An EV owner can identify a qualifying vehicle. Volunteers can learn the equipment and procedures.
- That allows Marin Power to build a network of potential matches before they are needed.
- When a situation develops, the objective is not to improvise a solution from scratch. It is to know what resources might fit, who has been trained to help, and whether conditions are appropriate for deployment.
6. Deployment is always conditional
- A potential match does not mean a deployment is guaranteed.
- Floodwater, electrical hazards, access, discharge conditions, weather and other circumstances may make pumping unsafe or impractical.
- If conditions aren’t safe, Marin Power doesn’t deploy.
- The project is intended to provide supplemental community resilience—not emergency response or a replacement for permanent flood protection.
The Bigger Idea
- Marin Power is testing whether a distributed community resource can fill a gap that conventional infrastructure and emergency systems may not be designed to address.
- An EV that normally sits in a driveway becomes a potential temporary power source.
- A portable pump becomes a shared community resource.
Volunteers become the connective tissue.
And advance planning turns resources that are normally separate into a network that may be able to help when they’re needed most.
That’s the idea we’re putting to the test.