Utilities Move Forward with Electric Transportation Planning
Posted on August 22, 2023 by Charlotte Shuff
Tags, Energy
Every three years, Oregon’s largest electric utilities are required to submit plans showing how they will support the state’s ambitious plans to transition to clean, electric transportation. This year, Portland General Electric and Pacific Power both submitted plans.
CUB is reviewing the plans and weighing in with regulators to make sure the utilities equitably serve communities’ electric transportation needs. CUB raised concerns about the utilities’ community engagement efforts. We are also concerned about possible inequities between the services offered to single-family homeowners compared to renters and multi-family residents.
Utilities Plan for More Electric Vehicles
Over the past few years, Oregon has passed multiple new requirements and initiatives aimed at increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road. In late 2022, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality passed a rule that all new passenger cars sold in Oregon by 2035 must either be battery electric or plug-in hybrid electric.
More electric cars and trucks mean we will need more charging stations in both public and private spaces. We need to build a network of chargers and charging stations and utilities must plan on meeting the increased need for electricity.
This year, our state’s two largest electric utilities— Portland General Electric (PGE) and Pacific Power— submitted three-year plans to regulators. Both utilities’ plans include new investments in both infrastructure and programs to support electric vehicle charging.
New infrastructure investments include both fast chargers (Direct Current Fast Chargers) and standard chargers (Level 2). This also includes electrical upgrades needed to support charging stations.
Programs are targeted efforts to increase electric vehicle charging across the state. Programs include working with local governments, community organizations, and businesses to add charging stations. There are also programs aimed at supporting electric vehicles in residential households, both single-family and multifamily.
Pacific Power’s plan has been approved. PGE’s plan is expected to go before the Public Utility Commission for approval in October.
Meeting Multifamily Vehicle Charging Needs
CUB identified multi-family residences as a particularly important space in need of new chargers. Most existing programs for new residential infrastructure are targeted at single-family homeowners. Very few multi-family housing residents own electric vehicles compared to single-family homeowners across the country.
One reason for this is that single-family homeowners can install a standard charger in their garage but people living in apartments and renters usually can’t. Research by the US Department of Energy has shown that electric vehicle owners rely on at-home charging for 80% of their needs, so having at-home charging is very important.
Pacific Power has done a good job of including the needs of multi-family housing residents in its plan. It plans to own and operate multi-family chargers. This means the utility, under the watch of state regulators, sets the rates for how much they cost per unit of energy to use. The cost to use these chargers will be similar to what single-family homeowners pay. New chargers will be installed near low-income multi-family housing with extra discounts for qualifying residents.
Conversely, PGE is considering handing off the chargers to private businesses to own and operate at multi-family housing. This means that private companies would be in charge of setting prices for use and state regulators will have no say in rates. Third-party ownership is especially concerning since PGE plans on buying the chargers with customer money. For multi-family residents, this means that the most convenient charging stations could be much more expensive than
Anyone with coin-operated laundry in their apartment complex can understand the risk of having an unregulated company oversee important appliances. While homeowners can enjoy only paying for the cost of electricity to do laundry, many renters do not have that option and pay significantly more per wash. Like laundry, unregulated electric vehicle chargers could end up costing significantly more for renters than what single-family homes pay.
Moving Toward Equitable Infrastructure Planning
In 2022, CUB won new rules to make sure utilities’ plans for electric vehicles would include benefits to more communities. These new rules should spur investment in electric transportation while ensuring historically underserved communities are not left behind.
Utilities must have a specific focus on serving low- and moderate-income communities. A significant portion of the investments made must go to underserved communities. By connecting and engaging with historically underserved communities, Oregon seeks to make programs from the utilities more equitable. The goal is to meet the transportation needs of these communities while fighting climate change.
Read More: Victory: Utilities Move Towards Equitable Electric Transportation Planning (CUB Blog)
CUB has been working with other advocacy groups to ensure that the utilities are taking community input into consideration. NW Energy Coalition, Green Energy Institute, Verde, and Climate Solutions have all been critical in these efforts.
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08/24/23 | 0 Comments | Utilities Move Forward with Electric Transportation Planning