Section 4: Beneficial Electrification Program Planning

Building a Transportation Electrification Program: Core Actions Internal to the Utility

Why It Matters to the Utility’s Members

Without strong support from the utility, rural residents may be the last to realize the benefits of transportation electrification. Many rural residents stand to benefit the most from this transition through electric fuel savings, driving longer distances whether commuting, getting groceries, taking kids to sporting events, visiting the doctor or seeing family and friends. Rural residents may also drive larger vehicles like pickups and SUVs where the electric fuel savings are larger but electric options were not available until recently. Charging availability is a large barrier for rural residents. It may not be possible or practical to buy an electric pickup if on can not use it like a normal pickup due to lack of DC fast charging. Up front costs and members not knowing of EV benefits may also be large barriers for the utility’s members. The utility can do a tremendous amount to bridge these barriers for their members to improve their quality of life and help them save money while strengthening the grid.

Why It Matters to the Utility

Developing a new program can be challenging. It can be hard to know where to start.

For rural utilities where bandwidth is stretched thin and staff wear 10 hats, it can be very challenging to find ways to add capacity to do new things. We will explore how to do this by leveraging one of rural utilities’ greatest assets, creativity due to bandwidth constraints.

We begin with planning activities internal to the utility. We will build a team, develop capabilities and expertise, plan stakeholder engagement (who to reach and how) and begin building relationships, investigating supportive rate strategies, planning managed charging and finally creating a custom strategy tailored to the utility.

Using the following framework we can get started with the actions each utility can take to build a transportation electrification program and suggestions for creative solutions to accomplish this with limited bandwidth.

See actions below- we will rework this graphic to fit the reformed set of actions

Action 1: Build the Utility’s Team

Form an Internal EV Team

Building a utility team is the first step towards building a TE program. This may include external help to bolster capacity and expertise. Stakeholders like local and regional non-profits or consultants can help add capacity for small utilities who may lack sufficient bandwidth internally.

The team is responsible for coordinating transportation electrification work and developments.
A sample team could include:

  • General Manager

  • Energy Services Supervisor

  • Engineering Supervisor

  • Community and Public Relations Supervisor

  • Customer Accounts Supervisor

A team lead will convene this group regularly and help the team navigate a rapidly changing market as the following actions unfold and a custom strategy is developed and implemented and iterated upon.

Action 2: Grow Utility’s EV Expertise

Educate utility staff and municipalities the utility may serve

Transportation electrification is a relatively new program type for rural utilities. Some utilities may have EV experts on staff while others may be starting with the basics. Regardless of where on the spectrum of expertise the utility starts, it is important to develop more in-house expertise across the utility. Distribution system engineers will bring key expertise as will marketing staff, key accounts staff and more. This reinforces the need for an interdisciplinary team. As cross disciplinary members gain EV expertise the team will be able to adapt to a rapidly changing market and overcome new challenges as programs to support customers are developed and implemented.

To ensure utility staffers across the organization have a firm EV knowledge base we provide some tangible examples .

Provide small exec summary for each subsection- why & what-

  • One of the best ways to learn about EVs is to visit an electric vehicle learning center, such as Forth’s Electric Vehicle Showcase in downtown Portland, Oregon. There, visitors can see and are able to test drive a variety of electric vehicles while interacting EV experts.

    Utilities are also starting to get involved in the EV education space by offering their own education opportunities which may serve employees and members alike.

    • Idaho Power also has a Charging Showcase, allowing customers to see five types of Level 2 electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE).

    • Forest Grove Light and Power is exploring opportunities to have an EV ready for test drives.

    • Some NW Utilities have company EVs that they can loan out to customers to help educate them on the benefits of this technology.

  • Similar to with the general public, there is often an informational gap about electric vehicles among utility employees. In order to most effectively advocate for EV adoption and develop impactful programs, utility staff need to be apprised of how these technologies function, the electric vehicle ecosystem, and the latest industry developments. Forth provides “EV 101” trainings, semi-annual working group meetings, webinars, and other resources to educate utility staff.

    • The utility can partner with other nearby utilities or non-profits to organize ride and drives for utility employees

    • Demonstrating day to day operational needs of an EV can help utility employees design more effective programs and respond to commercial and residential customers most effectively

  • Connecting with EV owners provides an opportunity to learn about the local EV market and learn how EVs might work for a variety of consumers with different driving habits. Each September, Plug-In America, Sierra Club, and The Electric Auto Association support a national EV celebration to raise awareness and highlight the benefits of plug-in vehicles called National Drive Electric Week. The week features events held throughout the country, led by local EV drivers, advocacy groups, and utilities such as the Oregon Electric Vehicle Association (OEVA), Seattle Electric Vehicle Association (SEVA), and Idaho Power. These events typically include EV parades, ride-and-drives, electric tailgate parties, press conferences, award ceremonies, and informational booths. With more than more than 300 events in 2019 they provide excellent engagement with local owners and drivers.

    • Organizations offer “EV Ambassador” groups aimed at leveraging the passion of these disparate groups and individuals into a program with targeted impacts. Non-profits and utilities have established connections with EV advocacy groups across the country to leverage this great outreach resource.

    • EV owner relationships have allowed for Ride and Drive events to take place in areas with little to no dealer inventory in the early EV days.

  • Shopping for an EV is an educational experience within itself and provides utilities with valuable experience while creating marketing potential. Publicizing the vehicle to customers in newsletters, on the website and at events positions the utility as a prime source of EV information.

    • Flathead Electric leases a Nissan Leaf, which its members can test drive at no cost for a few hours or days. They offer an online rental form for customers to complete through their website.

    • Bucket trucks: Some utilities are purchasing hybrid electric bucket trucks for utility operations. These purchases demonstrate utility support for plug-in vehicles but also offer superior operating conditions by allowing the truck implements to be operated via the battery instead continuing to run the diesel engine for about 6 hours of field work.

  • Regional utility peers and utilities across the country are experimenting with new ways to reach support customers and educate utility staff members in ways which help break down silos in the organization helping the utility most effectively address the rapidly developing needs for transportation electrification in rural areas.

Action 3: Set Goals and Define Program Scale

Setting a compass course will help guide the program planning process.

Goals

Setting transportation electrification goals through the lens of beneficial electrification includes the application of electricity to end-uses where doing so satisfies at least one of the following conditions, without adversely affecting the others:

 

The utility needs to decide which goals are most important.  And the utility may have other important goals to add, such as reaching low- to moderate-income members. While there are many models to emulate from other utilities, it is important to decide where to focus efforts. Does the utility have the appetite for a large-scale transportation electrification program? How much assistance and guidance do you want to want to offer member-customers?

Establishing two to three primary goals will help program administrators make program design decisions and prioritize resources. Let your goals lead your beneficial electrification program. 

Example goals:

  1. Ensure that the utility is prepared to maximize the benefits of EV growth, including financial, grid, air quality and customer service benefits of EVs to the utility and customers.

  2. Meet and exceed customer expectations with utilities becoming the ‘go-to’ resource for customers on electric vehicles, especially electric vehicle charging.

Action 4: Build Out Community Relationships

Cultivate Relationships with Community Stakeholders

Building relationships with a variety of community stakeholders is a key step to address transportation electrification goals in utility territories.
It will be important to have working relationships with

  • Members of city and county government(s) in the service territory

  • Rural Transportation planning organizations (RTPOs- if applicable)

  • Transit agencies (if applicable) or elderly and disabled shuttle services

  • Officials from school boards as well as mechanics

  • Local and regional air quality agencies (e.g. DEQ or Departments of Ecology)

  • Local environmental and nonprofit organizations promoting EV adoption (Clean Cities Coalitions in the region)

  • Community stakeholders such as anti-poverty and equity groups

What types of fleets are serving communities in the utility’s service territory? It is important to identify and build relationships with public and private fleet operators in order to support best their transition to electric transport. These may include:
Public Fleets

  • School districts (buses, service and maintenance fleets)

  • Transit fleets (buses, shuttles, vans, service vehicles)

  • Refuse fleets (garbage trucks, service vehicles)

  • Police fleets

  • Fire & Emergency Response Fleets

  • Local government fleets (motor pool vehicles, parks departments, street departments)

Private Fleets

  • Delivery Fleets (parcel, food, auto parts etc)

  • Refrigerated trucking (TRUs)

  • Warehousing (forklifts, drayage, semis, box trucks)

  • Regional class 8 trucking

  • Future agricultural applications.

These relationships will be critical as the utility helps foster transportation electrification across
many segments to improve workplaces, generate economic benefits, and reduce local air pollution.

Action 5: Develop Rate Structures to Help Manage Loads

Support EV use cases with effective rates that spur adoption and move charging loads to off peak periods

Rates can have a large impact on EV adoption and the success of programs. Successful rate structures can act as the framework to move loads off peak and incentivize managed charging. Some traditional rate structures can hamstring adoption for fleets and DC fast charging during pilot phases or in the early days of low utilization.

  • The electric options for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles have increased dramatically over the past few years. However, demand charges are proving to be a significant barrier in some cases. Some utilities are adjusting rate structures to make investments in EVs more cost-effective for commercial and municipal operations. Reduced demand charges can sometimes be justified by the increased revenue generated by electricity sales to these fleets; through higher per-kwh rates; by the benefits from battery storage for frequency and voltage control, or alleviating distribution constraints.

    • Foothills Transit near Los Angeles looked at electric transit buses, which are four times as efficient as their current CNG buses, but more costly to run because of high demand charges. In order to ramp up the program the California PUC agreed to a temporary moratorium on demand charges, followed by a gradual phase-in. This allows the transit agency to cost-effectively increase the number of electric buses until demand charges become a smaller percentage of electricity costs. Similarly, Southern California Edison has addressed this by adjusting rate structures. They created TOU rate classes for 0-20kW, 20-500kW and above 500kW. Super off-peak rates at night allow a fleet user such as a transit agency to charge without demand charges at a reduced rate. Using battery storage to buffer charge rates is also becoming more cost-effective.

    • Seattle City Light & King County Metro have agreed to flexibility in demand charges to encourage charging off peak.

    • PG&E has proposed a tiered subscription-based pricing model for EV charging of commercial vehicles. This subscription model would reduce the variability associated with demand charges for commercial EV charging and increases predictability for fleet managers.

  • Direct Current Fast Charging (DCFC) stations can have very high, but short term, peak loads. Until there are larger numbers of electric vehicles on the road, these demand charges make up a disproportionate share of DCFC costs.

    • For example, Pacific Power found that many fast chargers in the Pacific NW were spending over 80% of their monthly costs on demand charges. Especially in rural areas, these costs are detrimental to the economic operation of charging stations. Pacific Power has responded by proposing a 10-year phase in for demand charges, with higher kWh costs that gradually decline over that period. Other utilities and jurisdictions have completely waived demand charges for DCFC, recognizing that fast chargers are essential to serve an EV market that - overall - provides substantial ratepayer benefits. Utilities may also consider piloting new types of rate structures which would seek to better reflect the growth and behavior of EV charging.

  • EV specific rate structures to incentivize off peak / optimally timed charging to grow benefits for all

Action 6: Track and Project EV Usage

Where are the EVs and where may they be in the future? Utility-led initiative to Track EV registrations in service territories

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  • Some state agencies may provide EV registration data

  • For more detailed information some utilities offer a reward (i.e. $100) for registering their EV on the utility’s website

  • Also possible to explore load disaggregation tools to locate EV loads on a utility system

  • Nationwide Map of EV laws and utility incentives: https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/state

Action 7: Devise a Managed Charging Plan

Develop a managed charging program to maximize economic benefits for all

Two types of managed charging:

    • Relies on customer behavior charging patterns

    • EV varying TOU rates & hourly dynamic rates

    • Communication to customer to voluntarily reduce charging load (e.g. behavioral demand response event)

    • Incentive programs rewarding off-peak charging

    • Direct load control via charging device

    • Direct load control via automaker telematics

    • Direct load control via AMI, a smart circuit breaker or panel

EV benefits climb dramatically with managed charging

  • Greatest opportunity for increased flexible load

  • Managed charging provides utilities tools to influence charging behavior to maximize benefits to

    • Consumers

    • Utility

    • The grid

  • Goal of reducing charging during sub-optimal periods (ie peak demand) while maintaining enough battery state of charge for customers to complete all vehicle trips

 

  • Passive Managed Charging (Behavioral Load Control)

    • Relies on customer behavior charging patterns

    • EV varying TOU rates & hourly dynamic rates

    • Communication to customer to voluntarily reduce charging load (e.g. behavioral demand response event)

    • Incentive programs rewarding off-peak charging

    Active Managed Charging

    • Direct load control via charging device

    • Direct load control via automaker telematics

    • Direct load control via AMI, a smart circuit breaker or panel

    • Greatest opportunity for increased flexible load

    • Managed charging provides utilities tools to influence charging behavior to maximize benefits to

      • Consumers

      • Utility

      • The grid

    • Goal of reducing charging during sub-optimal periods (ie peak demand) while maintaining enough battery state of charge for customers to complete all vehicle trips

Action 8: Design a Custom TE Strategy

Tailor a Strategy to the utility’s unique goals and needs

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  • Some state agencies may provide EV registration data

  • For more detailed information some utilities offer a reward (i.e. $100) for registering their EV on the utility’s website

  • Also possible to explore load disaggregation tools to locate EV loads on a utility system

  • Nationwide Map of EV laws and utility incentives: https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/state

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Evaluating Impact

 

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