Why should Pennsylvania adopt electric vehicles?
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently revealed the results of their yearlong project called the “Pennsylvania Electric Vehicle Roadmap.” The report claims that Pennsylvania could gain close to $2.8 billion in net benefits by 2033 by increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road.
How would Pennsylvania benefit from more electric vehicles?
The roadmap, completed in collaboration with the Drive Electric Pennsylvania Coalition, set out to review the state of the electric market in Pennsylvania and define a set of proposed strategies to expand the electric vehicle (EV) market.
According to the report, Pennsylvania ranked 24th nationwide in 2017 for total sales of electric vehicles. It also lists 13 strategies to increase sales as well as benefits to the state would reap by increasing electricity usage to three of every ten vehicles. As a result, greenhouse gas emissions and respiratory disease would decrease while increasing jobs and customer savings.
The report claims that Pennsylvania currently has “a breadth of local, regional, and state initiatives designed to support EV deployment”. It lays out strategies to “cover goals and targets, pricing-based policies, public planning and investment actions, education and outreach initiatives, enabling regulations, and financing models.” Some strategies to help support providing electric vehicles over the next two years and increasing their adoption include:
- Establish utility transportation electrification directive
- Establish statewide EV sales goals
- Expand and improve Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant (AFIG) rebate program
- Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE): strengthen statewide charging station network planning, investment, and communications
- Establish fleet education, cooperative purchase, and technical assistance program
- Create EV marketing and education campaign targeted at consumers
- Establish dealer outreach and support program
What is Pennsylvania doing to help the public reap the benefits of electric vehicles?
Thanks to the results of the report, the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) announced on February 28 that they had approved tariff supplements for four FirstEnergy utilities to clarify rules regarding third-party electric vehicle charging. Resale of electricity is prohibited in Pennsylvania, but in light of the report’s views that the state could see up to $2.8 billion in benefits from more electric vehicles, the PUC has ruled that charging at third-party owned charging stations “will not be considered resale of electricity.” Regulators are hoping this will remove one of the barriers to infrastructure development identified in the report.
At present, Pennsylvania has about 8 million vehicles registered, of which 15,000 are electric. The DEP hopes that encouraging more EV sales will put more on the road by 2033.
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The adoption of more electric vehicles could see big benefits for the state of Pennsylvania. You can keep up to date with future developments right here at PA Ratings, and don’t forget, you can head over to https://www.paenergyratings.com/electricity-rates anytime to explore what Pennsylvania energy plans are available right now.