TVA Prices $1 Billion of New Five-Year Global Power Bonds
March 31, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 31, 2023
The Tennessee Valley Authority priced $1 billion of new five-year maturity global power bonds on March 27, with an interest rate of 3.875%. This is TVA’s first bond offering with a five-year maturity since 2020.
TVA said the bonds attracted interest from a wide variety of domestic and global institutions, including official institutions, state and local governments, pension funds, money managers and insurance companies. Barclays Capital, BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley & Co, and RBC Capital Markets served as joint book-running managers for the transaction.
The new bonds will mature on March 15, 2028, and are not subject to redemption prior to maturity. Interest will be paid semi-annually each March 15 and September 15. Application has been made to list the bonds on the New York Stock Exchange.
TVA plans to use the proceeds to pay down other debt and for general corporate purposes. The transaction will not, in and of itself, materially change TVA’s debt balance, which remains at the lowest level in 30 years. TVA’s business plan calls for debt to increase in fiscal year 2023, and in the coming years, as TVA continues to invest in its power system.
Long Island Power Authority Board Approves Time-of-Day Rates Plan
March 31, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 31, 2023
The Long Island Power Authority Board of Trustees on March 29 voted to modernize electric rates for residential customers throughout Long Island and the Rockaways beginning in 2024 with a standard time-of-day rate and an optional super off-peak rate.
Customers will still have the option to stay on a flat rate.
“Time-of-Day Rates are an important rate modernization reform that will help lower customer bills and advance clean energy,” said Thomas Falcone, Chief Executive Officer of LIPA. “Once implemented in 2024, this initiative will save 80 percent of customers money even before changes to how or when they use electricity. By moving to Time-of-Day Rates, we can reduce carbon emissions and take the burden off the electric grid during the highest times of demand.”
With the new TOD rate, customers will pay different rates for electricity based on when they use it. Electric rates will be higher during weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. (peak) but lower all other hours of the day and on weekends and holidays (off-peak). With the super off-peak rate, rates are further discounted in the (super off-peak) hours from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Most customers will pay the same or less under the TOD rate or super off-peak rate without changing their electricity usage or habits because. These customers already conduct most activities during discounted off-peak periods, which make up 88 percent of hours throughout the year.
While developing the TOD proposal, LIPA proactively sought feedback and received input from customers and stakeholders. Through the process, LIPA evaluated best practices from other utilities across the U.S. that have successfully implemented TOD Rates for their customers, beginning as early as 2018. In California, public power utility SMUD has implemented time-of-day rates.
The LIPA TOD rate design was collaboratively developed with input from the Department of Public Service, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the New York Solar Energy Industries Alliance and consumer advocates such as the Utility Intervention Unit, and the Public Utilities Law Project.
LIPA’s service provider, PSEG Long Island, will be conducting extensive outreach to all customers before they are transitioned into the new rate. Customers will receive 90-, 60-, and 30-day notices, which will include information about the different plans, how to optimize their rates, and details regarding a bill protection guarantee.
To help customers transition to the new plan, LIPA is offering a one-year bill protection guarantee for a customer’s first year on the TOD Rate (or Super Off-Peak Rate). If a customer’s electric bill on the TOD Rate (or Super Off-Peak Rate) is higher after 12 months than it would have been under the Flat Rate, LIPA will automatically refund (in the form of a bill credit) the difference for the entire 12-month period.
Customers will be migrated to the new TOD rate plan in phases beginning in 2024 and continuing through 2025. Starting in the Fall of 2023, customers will also have the option to both voluntarily opt into the time-of-day rate and super off-peak rate early or opt out entirely and remain on the current flat rate.
LIPA said that the electricity that is generated off-peak emits up to 50 percent less carbon than the electric generation needed to serve peak demand from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. during weekdays. The power plants that run during peak periods need to be highly flexible to turn off and on quickly and are less efficient than plants optimized to run all the time, it said.
By reducing demand during peak periods, LIPA can reduce the capacity and runtime of less efficient power plants and avoid the need to expand the electric grid’s capacity. As LIPA operates on a not-for-profit basis, those savings are then passed on to customers under this program.
Under the TOD rate, customers will also have the ability to save even more money by making small changes in their daily routine that conduct energy-intensive activities—such as doing laundry or charging electric cars —in off-peak hours. For instance, a customer on the TOD Rate could save approximately $4 per month by doing their laundry and $43 per month by charging their electric vehicle during off-peak hours.
LIPA previously held two public hearings in Nassau County and Suffolk County, and members of the public also had the opportunity to speak in front of the LIPA Board of Trustees at its regularly scheduled meetings. Additionally, written comments were accepted and provided to the Board for consideration before the vote.
For more information, visit https://www.lipower.org/time-of-day/
Students Learn About Role of Lineworkers at Wisconsin’s Sun Prairie Utilities
March 30, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 30, 2023
Jacob Dowden and Hayden Shefchik, lineworker apprentices at Wisconsin public power utility Sun Prairie Utilities, recently visited middle schools in Sun Prairie where they not only explained to students what they do at the utility, but also gave those students the opportunity to consider pursuing an eventual career in public power.
In an interview with Public Power Current, Dowden and Shefchik detailed the career paths they took that resulted in their current positions at Sun Prairie Utilities.
Dowden initially went to college to study criminal justice and during high school and college he worked for the school district in Sun Prairie in grounds facility maintenance. Dowden joined the utility in a custodial position to get his foot in the door. “During the interview process, I was looking for opportunities for advancement from within,” he said.
Dowden subsequently worked for the utility’s water department “and I was there for a few years.” He then went to work for another utility where he became a lineman and then he returned to Sun Prairie Utilities about six months ago, which is also around the time that Shefchik joined the utility.
“Leading up to graduation in high school, I had really no plan” for post-graduation, Shefchik said. He did have a couple of ideas for next steps in his life including “going to line school for nine months” or going to a local university.
He wound up going to a college in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to study physical therapy. But at the end of his sophomore year, the Covid-19 pandemic hit the U.S. Faced with student loans and a shift to online courses, Shefchik decided to switch gears in his life and attend Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.
After graduating from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, he worked for a contractor company in Madison, Wisconsin, and then moved to Sun Prairie where he joined the utility.
Shefchik and Dowden recently visited Sun Prairie’s three middle schools where they spoke with seventh grade students.
“In seventh grade, I had no idea what” lineworkers do, Dowden said. “I just knew whenever I plugged something into the wall, it turned on.” So Shefchik and Dowden talked about where electricity comes from and “what we do on a daily basis” explaining, for example, that if there is a power outage, “we’re there to fix it.”
Shefchik noted that they brought two folding tables where they placed equipment that they use including hot line tools and climbing belts. Students also had the opportunity to check out a utility bucket truck and try on rubber gloves and hard hats worn by lineworkers.
Meeting with students can also plant the idea of their potentially becoming lineworkers at a later point in their lives.
“We went through our process of basically how we got to where we’re at,” Dowden said. “No one really writes out a plan for you in that sense.”
And the difference in ages and backgrounds of Shefchik and Dowden shows students that lineworkers come from all walks of life, Shefchik said.
Sun Prairie Utilities is an electric and water utility that provides services to approximately 34,900 residents and businesses, mostly within the city limits of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.
Policy Intervention May Be Needed to Bolster Geothermal Energy’s Value: Report
March 29, 2023
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
March 29, 2023
Geothermal energy may need more policy support to successfully compete with solar and wind resources in western U.S. markets, according to a research paper by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Geothermal power has been “largely sidelined” during the ongoing energy transition of this century as many gigawatts of wind, and later solar, and most recently solar-plus-storage hybrid plants have been built instead, the Berkeley researchers said in the paper, Mind the gap: Comparing the net value of geothermal, wind, solar, and solar+storage in the Western United States.
“Relatively little new geothermal capacity” has been deployed in this century, the authors noted, adding that in the past decade, less than 0.5 gigawatts of new geothermal capacity has come online in the six western states that are home to geothermal power plants while more than 5 gigawatts of wind and 20 gigawatts of utility-scale solar have come online during the decade.
The Berkeley paper analyzed the development gap by gathering historical power purchase agreement prices for geothermal, wind, solar, and solar-plus-storage plants in the western United States and comparing them with wholesale market based energy and capacity prices to arrive at a net value for each resource, defined as the combined energy and capacity value of a resource minus its average power purchase agreement price.
The analysis showed that geothermal’s net value is lower than that of the other resources and has even been negative for much of the study period, which the authors said “largely explains the disparity in deployment rates seen over the last decade.”
The factors limiting geothermal deployment have not been physical potential or resource availability, but the economic viability, including higher resource risks, longer development timelines, and higher financing costs associated with geothermal development, the authors said.
In recognition that geothermal’s energy and capacity value is likely to remain “largely intact in future years,” while that of wind, solar, and solar-plus-storage will likely decline as their market share grows, the authors extended their assessment of relative net value through 2026, a date based on a California regulatory mandate.
In June 2021, California regulators mandated load-serving entities procure at least 1 gigawatt of new zero-emission, high-capacity-factor, non-weather-dependent resources – geothermal resources “in all but name,” the authors said – along with another gigawatt of long-duration, defined as at least eight hours energy storage by 2026.
California’s “mid-term reliability” procurement order injected new life into the geothermal industry, with several new power purchase agreements having been announced in its wake, the report’s authors said.
The extended analysis found “likely improvements in geothermal’s relative competitiveness based on net value—particularly relative to standalone solar and solar-plus-storage—though not enough to close the persistent gap with these other resources,” the report found.
“Such a scenario makes it hard to sustain a functioning, let alone improving, industry that will be ready to build new firm generating capacity when eventually called upon to do so,” the report’s authors said. “At risk are the many ancillary benefits and capabilities—besides firm energy and capacity—that geothermal can provide, including enhanced reliability and resilience, minimal land-use impacts (which is rapidly becoming an issue for solar in particular), the potential for valuable byproduct utilization” such as lithium extraction from geothermal brines.
“As such, additional interventions and policy support may be warranted to override the net value considerations examined in this paper and to ‘close the gap’ between geothermal and competing resources,” the authors concluded.
Proposed Efficiency Standards for Distribution Transformers Would Worsen Shortages: APPA
March 29, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 29, 2023
Efficiency standards for distribution transformers proposed by the Department of Energy would worsen current distribution transformer supply shortages and, to the extent that they are even feasible, would impose significant costs on consumers, the American Public Power Association said.
The March 27 comments filed by APPA come in response to a DOE notice of proposed rulemaking on Energy Conservation Standards for Distribution Transformers issued late last year. If the rulemaking is adopted, almost all transformers produced under the new standard would feature amorphous steel cores.
“As a threshold matter, the NOPR’s proposal to tighten distribution transformer efficiency standards comes at an extremely precarious time for electric utilities and their transformer suppliers,” APPA said.
The electric industry is currently experiencing a critical shortage of distribution transformers, “and the efficiency standards included in the NOPR would likely exacerbate a supply shortfall that has already reached crisis levels, threatening electric reliability, economic development, and the ongoing transition to lower-emitting generating resources,” APPA argued.
“It is difficult to overstate the concerns of APPA members and other electric utilities about the current transformer shortage,” it said,
DOE’s analysis of the proposed standards “must account for the effects that the revised standards would have on suppliers’ ability to meet industry demands, and DOE should also consider the impact of the NOPR on near-term supply chain constraints. These considerations alone warrant reconsideration of the proposal to revise distribution transformer efficiency standards at this time.”
Even if DOE was to conclude that the distribution transformer supply chain crisis does not provide grounds to forego prescribing new efficiency standards at this time, the NOPR has not adequately supported a finding that the proposed standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, as required by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, the trade group said.
APPA said the NOPR fails to address several very significant costs and technical challenges that the revised efficiency standards would impose on distribution transformer suppliers, electric utilities, and/or electric consumers. “Indeed, the number and variety of important issues on which DOE seeks comments tend to show the highly provisional nature of the NOPR’s conclusions.”
APPA Survey
APPA noted that it conducted a survey of public power utilities in February and March 2022 on disruptions to the utility supply chain. One hundred twenty-one public power utilities responded to the survey, with 114 answering all questions. When asked to indicate which supply chain disruptions were most concerning to their utilities, 103 out of 121 respondents ranked transformers as their highest concern. An additional 13 ranked transformers as their second-highest concern.
Evaluating the survey data individually, and assuming no changes to the current conditions, 19 out of 91 utility respondents, or 21 percent will run out of new transformers within the quoted 12-month lead time for transformer shipments. Most of these utilities are larger public power utilities.
Contingencies public power utilities have used to address the transformer shortage include refurbishing their own transformers, purchasing transformers from other utilities (where possible), or harvesting unused transformers already installed in their systems, APPA said.
APPA Questions Assumptions Underlying NOPR’s Technical and Economic Analyses
DOE preliminarily concludes that the distribution transformer efficiency standards proposed in the NOPR are technologically feasible and economically justified.
“While APPA recognizes the complexity of performing the relevant technical and economic analysis to determine if the proposed efficiency standards satisfy EPCA’s statutory standards, APPA respectfully submits that certain of the assumptions underlying the NOPR’s technical and economic analyses are not adequately supported and/or overlook important considerations that are material to the conclusions.”
The NOPR’s assumptions about transformer availability and cost are not adequately supported. The use of more accurate industry data would shows the lack of economic justification for the proposed revised standards, APPA said, noting that transformer lead times and prices continue to increase.
Supply Chain Constraints May Negatively Impact Reliability
Transformer lead time delays make it more difficult to connect electric vehicle supply equipment and interconnect renewables, potentially inhibiting utilities’ ability to transition to lower- and non-emitting resources, APPA said.
It noted that the North American Electric Reliability Corporation has highlighted the reliability risk associated with the transformer shortage, noting in its most recent Winter Reliability Assessment, that “[i]nadequate supply of distribution transformers could slow restoration efforts following winter storms.”
These supply chain issues are directly harming consumers, the association said. “Transformer unavailability has led to delays in housing construction, forcing thousands of new-home buyers to wait as work is halted on new home construction for months at a time. Among public power utilities, one in five projects were deferred or canceled.”
APPA urges DOE to Reconsider NOPR
APPA urged DOE to reconsider the NOPR or delay the implementation until the transformer supply base is strengthened enough to increase supply, reduce costs, and greater diversity of component suppliers exists.
APPA also said that DOE should rework the cost-benefit case with the realistic numbers included in all responses to the NOPR.
ElectriCities Appoints New Executive Team Members
March 29, 2023
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
March 29, 2023
ElectriCities of North Carolina Inc. has named two new members to its executive team. Kathy Moyer is the organization’s new Chief Operating Officer, while Andy Fusco has been named Chief Strategy Officer.
As Chief Operating Officer, Moyer will oversee all of ElectriCities’ power supply and distribution operations.
Moyer has over 28 years of experience in electric utility operations. She joined ElectriCities in 2000 as an Operations Engineer and moved into the role of Manager, NCMPA1 Operations in 2011.
In 2013, Moyer assumed the role of Electric Systems Manager for ElectriCities operations in Huntersville and Cornelius, North Carolina, and then later, for operations in Pineville, North Carolina. In 2016, she accepted her most recent role of Vice President, Operations.
As Chief Strategy Officer, a new position, Fusco will oversee ElectriCities’ newly titled Strategy & Services Division, formerly known as Member Services. He will be accountable for strategic planning and implementing value-added member services.
Fusco has over 29 years of experience, 22 of which are in the electric industry. He joined ElectriCities in 2001 as Supervisor, Resource Planning. He was promoted to Manager, Resource Planning in 2003, Engineering & Construction Manager in 2008, and Director, Planning in 2012. In 2013, he took on his most recent position of Vice President, Member Services & Corporate Planning.
The recent organizational updates align with ElectriCities’ strategic planning efforts and follow the February announcement that Matt Schull would be stepping down as ElectriCities COO to join Missouri River Energy Services as its president and CEO.
Department of Agriculture Loan Helping Jefferson County PUD Rollout Broadband, AMI
March 27, 2023
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
March 27, 2023
The United States Department of Agriculture has granted the Jefferson County Public Utility District No. 1 in Washington a $5.4 million loan that the public power utility plans to use to expand the rollout of advanced metering infrastructure and broadband services.
The loan has two components. The first, $1.35 million portion is for the utility’s new office building and the remaining $4.05 million is the advanced metering infrastructure rollout.
The loan has a 26-year term. The Department of Agriculture has yet to set the interest rate for the loan.
Jefferson County PUD purchased the new office building in 2022. Originally the utility had hoped to use the loan to purchase the building, but “it took so long to secure the loan, we went ahead with the purchase,” Will O’Donnell, Jefferson County PUD’s director of broadband and communications, said. The utility plans to use the loan to replenish its cash reserves, which will also allow it to amortize the cost of the purchase over the next 26 years.
The new, 5,840 square foot building, which the utility has occupied since May 2022, houses the PUD’s broadband team and some administrative staff. It has 16 offices, two server rooms, a conference room, and a 130-foot lattice radio tower. The building was previously used by a telecommunications and technology company.
Jefferson PUD already has 50 miles of fiber optic cable, which supports its supervisory control and data acquisition system and serves about 40 anchor businesses in its territory.
The utility plans to install 543 miles of fiber optic cable in the next four to five years.
“It is a very big push into broadband for our utility,” O’Donnell said.
Jefferson PUD has already received $25 million in state and federal grants for its broadband expansion and plans to go out for another $50 million to $60 million, O’Donnell said.
Of the $4.05 million component of the loan, $2.45 million will be used on advanced metering infrastructure meters and corresponding equipment; $950,000 for meter removal, installation, and disposal; $475,000 on collector and equipment installation, and $185,000 for supervisory control and data acquisition costs.
Planning for the switch to advanced metering infrastructure has been underway for a decade. The rollout this year coincides with the PUD’s 10-year anniversary as an electric utility. It acquired the Jefferson County electrical grid from Puget Sound Energy for $103 million and began operations in April 2013.
The PUD’s advanced metering infrastructure rollout halted in 2017 because of customer fears and concerns. The utility offered an opt-out in 2020, and about 300 customers chose not to switch to advanced metering infrastructure.
Work on the rollout resumed in the second half of 2021, which is also when the utility applied for the Department of Agriculture loan. Vision Metering was selected as the vendor. After much preparation, deployment began in September 2022.
To date, Jefferson PUD has installed 2,000 advanced metering infrastructure meters and has another 18,000 to go to replace all of its 20,000 meters. “We are ramping up and hope to have it done by the end of the year,” O’Donnell said.
As part of the rollout, Jefferson PUD has added two meter readers to its staff. When the new meters are installed, those employees will have the option to bid into the PUD’s growing broadband or electrical operations teams.
Colorado City Takes Closer Look at Possible Municipalization
March 27, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 27, 2023
Cañon City, Colo., is taking a closer look at its electric utility options including the possible formation of a public power utility.
In 2020, city voters rejected a new franchise agreement with investor-owned utility Black Hills Energy, but Cañon City continues to be served by the utility.
The Cañon City Energy Franchise Committee was formed by the City Council after voters turned down the renewal of the franchise agreement with BHE. The committee’s focus has been to examine different business models that could possibly save customers money on their electric bills.
The Energy Franchise Committee recently completed an interim report detailing electric service options for the city.
Included among the options in the report is a public power utility. Not having a current franchise agreement with BHE is the first step for Cañon City to municipalize an electric utility, the report said.
The report said that even though BHE is not a willing seller, the city has the option of Colorado’ s condemnation law through the eminent domain process to create a new municipal electric utility for Cañon City.
The report also noted that public power’s rates, on average, are lower. “Year after year, for more than 50 years, data from the U.S. Department of Energy show that investor-owned utilities and rural electric cooperatives charge more on average for electricity than public power utilities. In 2014, residential customers of investor-owned utilities paid average rates that were 14 percent higher than those paid by customers of public power utilities.”
The report goes on to detail the steps that would be required to form a public power utility in the city. Among other things, the report highlights the need for community education.
It pointed out that the American Public Power Association has stressed the importance of community education throughout the municipalization process. An educational community plan needs to be developed prior to a city election, the report said.
APPA offers a wide range of resources and information related to municipalization. Click here for additional details.
TVA, Others to Advance Global Deployment of Small Modular Reactor Technology
March 24, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 24, 2023
Tennessee Valley Authority, Ontario Power Generation, Synthos Green Energy and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy are teaming up to advance the global deployment of a small modular reactor, they announced on March 23.
Through a technical collaboration agreement that was announced in Washington, D.C., TVA, OPG and SGE will invest in the development of the GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy BWRX-300 standard design and detailed design for key components, including reactor pressure vessel and internals.
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy is committed to standard design development and anticipates a total investment of around $400 million associated with the development.
Each contributor has agreed to fund a portion of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s overall cost and collectively will form a design center working group with the purpose of ensuring the standard design is deployable in multiple jurisdictions.
The long-term goal is for the BWRX-300 design to be licensed and deployed in Canada, the U.S., Poland and beyond.
Site preparation is now underway for a BWRX-300 at OPG’s Darlington New Nuclear Project site in Clarington, Ontario, with construction expected to be complete by the end of 2028. This will be the first grid-scale SMR in North America.
TVA is preparing a construction permit application for a BWRX-300 at the Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee and exploring additional sites in the TVA service area for potential SMR deployments.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., recently visited the Clinch River site that has been designated as the location for a TVA small modular reactor. Lee and Fleischmann were accompanied on the tour by Jeffrey Lyash, CEO of TVA.
ORLEN Synthos Green Energy, a joint venture between SGE and PKN Orlen, and its partners have started the pre-licensing process in Poland by submitting an application to the National Atomic Energy Agency for assessment of the BWRX-300.
ORLEN Synthos Green Energy has initiated a site selection process for its proposed first BWRX-300 and intends to deploy this first unit by the end of this decade with the future potential for a fleet of BWRX-300s. ORLEN Synthos Green Energy has initiated a site selection process for this first unit.
The BWRX-300 is being designed to reduce construction and operating costs below other nuclear power generation technologies. Specifically, the BWRX-300 is being developed to leverage a unique combination of existing fuel, plant simplifications, proven components and a design based on an already licensed reactor.
SMR Project Being Developed by UAMPS Moves Forward
Participants’ governing boards in the Carbon Free Power Project being developed by Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems are moving forward with the development and deployment of a small modular reactor project, UAMPS reported on Feb. 28. With the commitments, the CFPP Project Management Committee approved a new budget and plan of finance.
NPPD Launches SMR Siting Study
Meanwhile, the Nebraska Public Power District is beginning the process of studying sites that could have the potential to host advanced small modular nuclear reactors, it said on Jan. 13.
Under Nebraska legislative bill 1014, the State of Nebraska allocated $1 million of American Rescue Plan Act funding to complete a siting study for small modular reactors.
MIT Study Highlights Importance of Strategic Location for EV Charging Stations
March 24, 2023
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
March 24, 2023
The strategic location of electric vehicle charging stations could help solve some of the impediments to more widespread adoption of the technology, according to a study by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The study, Strategies for beneficial electric vehicle charging to reduce peak electricity demand and store solar energy, set out to address and find potential solutions to two problems posing obstacles to more widespread electric vehicle adoption.
The report noted that while combatting climate change involves plans for increasing vehicle electrification using renewable energy sources, some projections show those plans could require costly new power plants to meet peak loads in the evening when drivers plug in their cars. In addition, the report noted that over production of power from solar farms during the daytime can waste electricity-generation capacity.
To address those problems, the study’s authors investigated mitigation strategies that do not require travel behavior change or new technology such as vehicle-to-grid capabilities and networked chargers. They found that delayed home charging nearly eliminates increases in peak evening demand and that workplace charging can reduce peak demand while cutting the curtailment of photovoltaic electricity by half.
Those approaches could be combined to suit local conditions and decarbonization plans, the authors said, though they noted that capturing the benefits from those strategies would require “an acceleration of electric vehicle adoption relative to current rates.”
For the study, the researchers used anonymized data collected from two sample cities, New York and Dallas, showing when, for how long and where the electric vehicles were used.
Analysis of the data showed that better availability of charging stations at workplaces could help soak up peak midday power produced from solar power installations that might otherwise go to waste because it is not economical to build enough battery or other storage capacity to save all the power for use later in the day.
For delayed home charging, the study specified that each electric vehicle charger could be accompanied by a simple application to estimate the time to begin its charging cycle so that it charges just before the vehicle is needed the next day.
That approach, the authors noted, would not require a centralized control of the charging cycle and would not need communication capability between devices, but it would require some advance commitment on the part of participants.
By “home charging” the researchers include charging equipment in individual garages or parking areas, as well as charging stations available in on-street parking locations and in apartment building parking areas.
The findings highlight the value of combining the two approaches, the authors said, noting that delayed home charging can be a particularly effective component of a strategic package of charging locations. Workplace charging, they said, “is not a good substitute for home charging for meeting drivers’ needs on all days.”
The reason delayed home charging works so well, “is because of the natural variability in driving behaviors across individuals in a population,” Jessika Trancik, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Institute for Data, Systems and Society, said in a statement.
There is a lot of public money going into expanding charging infrastructure, so it is important that incentives go toward locations that are efficient and effective and that do not require a lot of additional capacity expansion, Trancik said. “I think one of the fascinating things about these findings is that by being strategic you can avoid a lot of physical infrastructure that you would otherwise need,” she said. “Your electric vehicles can displace some of the need for stationary energy storage, and you can also avoid the need to expand the capacity of power plants, by thinking about the location of chargers as a tool for managing demands – where they occur and when they occur.”