Illinois Commerce Commission inquires into deployment of electric vehicles, supporting infrastructure

With the launch of a notice of inquiry (NOI) last week, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) put forth its intentions to explore electricity rate design options linked to electric vehicles and their supporting infrastructure, along with its impacts on other forms of electrification, service, and affordability.

Citing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) assessment that the transportation sector is one of the worst producers of greenhouse gas emissions, and the fact that electric vehicles generally contribute less to climate change, the ICC noted that electrifying the sector is one they consider an important step. A previous NOI explored potential challenges and opportunities for EV deployment.

“While there are fewer than 25,000 registered electric vehicles on the road, it is the expectation and hope that this number will rise,” ICC Chairman Carrie Zalewski said. “As regulators, we have to ensure energy practices in Illinois do not impair electrification adoption and deployment. Equally important is to identify the impact of rate designs on electric service affordability so that we could structure our rates accordingly in the future.”

Stakeholders are welcome to elaborate on some of the main topics dominating this latest NOI: what impacts rate design will have on EV adoption, what rate design will impact among other forms of beneficial electrification and the scope of rate design implementation. These, the ICC has requested, should be backed by facts and detail — not opinion.

The inquiry will open to comments as of Nov. 16, 2020, and will be due by Dec. 18, 2020. The details collected may or may not be utilized for future rulemaking.