Data vital for state regulators to decide future transportation electrification policies, experts say
State commission decisions on transportation electrification must be supported by reviewable, appropriate and reliable data that will help regulators make important decisions on utility proposals, particularly those that will seek to recover electrification-related costs, according to panelists during the July 21 Data and Transportation Electrification panel at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ (NARUC) virtual 2020 Summer Policy Summit.
“I think that transportation electrification is the biggest disruptive technology that the electric industry has seen due to the potential of electric vehicles,” said Matthew Nelson, chairman of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. “I admit that distributive generation and behind-the-meter devices certainly have had their impact on the grid, and it’s been significant, but we’re talking about the first electric device that can move and also double the electric load for the home of your standard two-car family.”
At the same time, that movement of electric vehicles (EVs), which can occur between service territories and across state lines, also makes it difficult for state regulators to plan and understand “how this is going to impact our distribution system,” Nelson said.
For instance, “how do you design a rate for something like that? How do you incorporate that into system planning? Is the distribution system ready to accommodate this load?” said Nelson, who thinks the key is to understand all those patterns and usage of how people are driving, how they’re traveling, and what people are charging “in order to make a rate system for this new, evolving market.”
“And based on that data, we’re going to have to make policy decisions,” he added.
Panelist Adam Benshoff, executive director of regulatory affairs at the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which represents all of the nation’s investor-owned electric companies, said that electric companies and commissions play a vital role in helping states set policies and regulations for designing transportation electrification programs.
As of May, 48 different electric companies have received approval in 26 states and the District of Columbia for EV infrastructure deployment, said Benshoff, citing a recently released EEI quarterly report on EV infrastructure development. Their deployments range from pilot programs to full-scale transportation electrification plans representing over $1.5 billion in investments, he added.
There are also 22 company filings currently pending in 17 additional states and 24 different states that have some sort of general or generic proceeding underway related to electric transportation in which they’re gathering information, studying trends, and developing electrification plans, among myriad areas, said Benshoff.
“While I think this represents some fantastic progress… there’s still so much to learn and still so much to do,” he said, adding that policies and a regulatory framework are needed.
Toward that goal, EEI recently worked with the Illinois Citizens Utility Board, the National Consumer Law Center, NRDC, and the Sierra Club to release a joint statement in February supporting electric transportation that includes several guiding principles that Benshoff said “really reflect what I think are some helpful consensus opinions from some pretty diverse stakeholders.”
Included in the statement is a section on metrics, for instance, that he thinks is particularly apt for the data and transportation electrification conversation. Basically, it says that “electric companies should track metrics within their control that measure the benefits of transportation electrification.”
This could include, for example, the metrics, or data, on the success in prioritizing, monitoring and maintaining and approving affordability in electric service for low-income households; or monitoring the success and increasing access for the use of electric transportation as a fuel, said Benshoff.
“One idea that is within your control and that would fall into these metrics,” he said, “is infrastructure deployment in underserved areas, which would be something that would be a fantastic metric and something that can really be driven through policy.”
On the other hand, EV sales or the utilization of certain charging during the beginning phases of this development would not be good metric possibilities, in Benshoff’s opinion.
For instance, that type of data wouldn’t be as important for electric companies to consider in making short-term investment decisions. And EEI thinks electric companies are well-positioned to make targeted and strategic investments in EV charging infrastructure that benefit the broader community and accelerate EV adoption, said Benshoff.
“There’s a real value in understanding the landscape in your state as you’re looking at your transportation electrification plan at the commission there,” Benshoff said. “At the end of the day, a healthy transportation electric market is going to spur new efforts and offer innovative new products and business models.
“I think the growth of the market is going to benefit everyone, including customers and the industry,” he said.
Joining EEI’s Benshoff on the panel were Jenna Canseco, a principal consultant who leads DNV GL’s transportation electrification practice in North America, and Jon Koliner, chief data scientist at Rolling Energy Resources.
