EEI, Illinois Citizens Utility Board, National Consumer Law Center, NRDC, and Sierra Club Issue Joint Statement Supporting Electric Transportation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:

EEI – TRACE SCRUGGS, (202) 508-5229

ICUB – DAVE KOLATA, (312) 560-0929

NCLC – JAN KRUSE, (617) 542-8010

NRDC – MARK DRAJEM, (202) 289-2436

SIERRA CLUB – LARISA MANESCU, (202) 675-2392

 

EEI, Illinois Citizens Utility Board, National Consumer Law Center, NRDC, and Sierra Club Issue Joint Statement Supporting Electric Transportation

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, February 11, 2020) – The Edison Electric Institute, Illinois Citizens Utility Board, National Consumer Law Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Sierra Club today released a joint statement in support of transportation electrification and action by electric utilities to accelerate it. The statement explains how utility involvement can and must deliver benefits to all customers, particularly those in communities most impacted by air pollution and facing burdensome household energy costs. The statement was presented and was discussed during a breakfast briefing held by the Institute for Electric Innovation on the sidelines of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ winter policy summit.

The joint statement reads:

The Edison Electric Institute, Illinois Citizens Utility Board, National Consumer Law Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Sierra Club find:

  1. There are now more than 1.3 million plug-in electric vehicles in the Unities States. Numerous independent studies conclude that transportation electrification can provide widespread benefits to all utility customers, the environment, and public health; and
  2. There is a need for appropriate electric company involvement to accelerate transportation electrification and to ensure that it provides benefits to all customers. The following principles should inform an electric company effort in supporting transportation electrification:
    • Transportation electrification should benefit all utility customers, including those in communities that are burdened disproportionately by local air pollution from the transportation sector and low-income households that spend a disproportionate share of their income on vehicle fuel and maintenance.
    • Transportation electrification should avoid placing financial burdens related to the transition to electric vehicles on those who can least afford it;
    • Costs associated with utility investments designed to support transportation electrification should generally be recovered over a time frame that corresponds to the expected realization of future economic benefits from the electrification of the transportation sector;
    • Electric utilities should track metrics within their control that measure the benefits of transportation electrification, such as the following:
        • Success in monitoring, prioritizing, maintaining or improving the affordability of electric service for low-income households and in enhancing household energy security;
        • Success in increasing access to the use of electricity as a transportation fuel in low-income and disadvantaged communities;
        • Success in improving the utilization of the grid to put downward pressure on electricity rates and translating these improvements into benefits for all customers;
        • Success in using the integration of variable renewable, zero-emission generating resources in meeting the growing needs of transportation; and
    • Utility investments that support transportation electrification should be designed to:
        • Lower household expenditures by increasing access to the use of clean and affordable electricity as a transportation fuel, including in low-income and disadvantaged communities;
        • Improve local air quality in communities burdened by pollution from the transportation sector, including by supporting the electrification of buses, medium and heavy-duty trucks, and other vehicles and equipment;
        • Improve the utilization of the electric grid, putting downward pressure on rates to the benefit of all customers, including low-income customers and customers in disadvantaged communities; and
        • Take advantage of the flexibility and energy storage inherent in electric vehicles to facilitate the integration of variable renewable, zero-emission generating resources.

###