Vermont PUC report on electric vehicles

Vermont utility regulators have recommended steps Vermont could take to accelerate the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in the state, including creating state incentives for EV purchases as well as encouraging electric utilities to adopt new rate structures.

Like most other states, Vermont's transportation sector contributes more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector of the state's economy. Due in large part to emissions from cars and trucks powered by fossil fuels, the transportation sector is responsible for about 47% of Vermont's total greenhouse gas emissions; by contrast, Vermont's electricity generating sector is relatively small but nearly entirely renewable, and has the lowest carbon dioxide emissions of any state according to federal data. Other New England states are similar -- for example, Maine's transportation sector contributed 53% of the state's total greenhouse gas emissions in 2017, while electric power generation in Maine accounted for just 9 percent of the state’s total carbon emissions.

Indeed, the New England electricity grid has experienced significant decarbonized in recent decades, and renewable energy can now be consumed in the transportation sector through the use of EVs. In 2016, Vermont adopted a Comprehensive Energy Plan aiming to power 10% of transportation with renewable energy by 2025, and 80% by 2050, while reducing the sector's emissions by 30% by 2025. Vermont estimates that reaching these goals would require adding about 50,000 to 60,000 EVs to replace vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2025, for a compound annual growth rate of about 54%.

On June 27, 2019, the Vermont Public Utilities Commission released its report to various state legislative committees, "Promoting the Ownership and Use of Electric Vehicles in the State of Vermont." The report recommends that Vermont create incentives for EV purchases or leases, whether in the form of time-of-sale rebates or tax credits. It also recommends that Vermont buy EVs for the state vehicle fleet, and encourage the development of EV charging infrastructure through zoning or building code modifications.

The report also suggests that the Commission encourage electric utilities to take additional actions to promote EV adoption, such as funding EV purchase incentives through Vermont's Renewable Energy Standard program, or developing time-of-use retail rates to encourage car charging at off-peak times. It also noted that utility rate structures which impose demand charges on most commercial accounts but not on residential accounts make public direct-current fast-charging more expensive than at-home charging.

The report also notes that increased education and outreach efforts -- by utilities as well as by car dealers and other third parties -- could encourage consumer adoption of EVs.

Smart meters are safe, says Maine agency staff

The staff of the Maine Public Utilities Commission has issued a report concluding that the use of "smart meters" -- advanced utility metering infrastructure capable of communicating wirelessly with the utility -- is a "safe, reasonable, and adequate utility service."

Smart meters and other new utility technologies offer the opportunity to cut ratepayer costs while enabling new and innovative services.  Building on the ubiquity of cell phones, the internet, and other devices that can communicate using radio frequency emissions, smart meters can provide utilities with real-time data on each customer's consumption of electricity.  This can eliminate the need for traditional meter readers, enable utilities to manage outages in real-time, and can open up opportunities for real-time pricing of electricity.  Many utilities have adopted smart meters and other so-called "advanced metering infrastructure", including Maine's largest electric utility Central Maine Power Co.

But some people are concerned about the safety of smart meters, and in particular with the health effects of the radio frequency emissions associated with the meters' communication system.  Utilities around the country have faced questions, and even legal challenges, over the safety of smart meters.  As CMP rolled out its smart meter program, the Maine Public Utilities Commission received a series of complaints and requests for investigation into whether CMP's advanced metering infrastructure program complied with Maine law requiring utilities to provide safe, reasonable, and adequate utility service.

After legal proceedings before the Commission and Maine's highest state court, in 2012, the Commission opened an investigation into "the health and safety issue related to CMP's installation of smart meter technology."  That investigation led to Tuesday's release of a Commission staff report (67-page PDF) summarizing the evidence it had collected and staff's conclusions.  Highlights from the report include the following findings:

• The radio frequency (RF) emissions from CMP' s smart meters and other AMI components comply with duly promulgated federal safety regulations and other RF emission standards;
• No state, federal, or Canadian regulatory body or health agency that has considered the health impacts of smart meters (including Maine 's Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC)) has found smart meters to be unsafe;
• The scientific evidence presented in this proceeding is inconclusive with respect to the human health impacts from low-level RF emissions generally;
• There are no credible, peer-reviewed scientific studies in the record that demonstrate, or even purport to demonstrate, a direct human health risk specifically from smart meter RF emissions;
• The studies that have been presented in the record to demonstrate the risk to human health from exposure to RF-emitting devices are based on exposure to substantially higher levels of RF emissions than smart meters;
• The relative RF emission exposure from smart meters is significantly less than other commonly used RF-emitting electronic devices; and
• CMP' s installation and operation of its smart meter system is consistent with federal and state energy policy and is a generally accepted utility practice throughout the country.

Based on these findings, the staff report concludes that "CMP's installation and operation of its smart meter system is consistent with its statutory obligation to furnish safe, reasonable and adequate facilities and service."  That said, the report also concurs with recommendations that continued research should be done on the impacts on human health from radio frequency emissions.

It now falls to the full Commission to take up the issue.  Will the Commissioners agree with their staff's findings and conclusion?

Maine utility launches time-of-use rates

A Maine electric utility has launched a program to offer residential consumers rates that vary depending on whether the consumption occurs during times of peak demand on the electric grid.  Central Maine Power Company's residential time-of-use rates are designed to encourage consumers to shift their use of electricity-intensive equipment to off-peak hours, generally between 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. and on weekends. How many customers will choose this option?  What effects will it have, both for the consumers opting in and for society as a whole?

Traditionally, electric ratepayers pay the same price for every kilowatt-hour of energy they consume, without regard to the time of consumption or to conditions on the grid.  But the cost of producing a given kilowatt-hour of electricity depends on factors including the portfolio of generators operating at the time, as well as on the instantaneous demand for electricity in the overall regional market.  Because they are not directly exposed to the real-time price of power, consumers individually and collectively may not make efficiency choices about how much power they consume, and when they consume it.  For example, energy prices are typically lower at night, when demand is reduced, but consumers have not traditionally had any incentive to shift their consumption to lower-priced nighttime hours.  Some utilities have offered industrial and commercial businesses time-of-use rates to encourage efficiency, but most residential ratepayers have not had this option in recent years.

Central Maine Power now offers residential consumers the option to choose time-of-use rates.  Prices during peak hours will be about 15 percent higher than under the default rate schedule, with off-peak prices about 20 percent below the default rates.  The structure offers the opportunity for consumers to choose to shift heavy-consuming applications like air conditioning and heating to off-peak hours.  This could save these consumers money - but it would require them to modify their behavior, invest in new "smart" technology, or both.  Will consumers find the opportunity for savings to be worth these changes?

The current enrollment window is open through January 31, 2013.

California utility time of use rates

California regulators have upheld a decision to change the way many business and agricultural customers are charged for electricity.  Under the new structure, known as "time of use" pricing, customers will pay different rates for the energy consume depending on the real-time balance of supply and demand.

Historically, electricity consumers paid rates set by state public utilities commissions that, in the aggregate, allow utilities to recover their costs and make a reasonable rate of return on their investment.  Typically, these rates for energy have been fixed in advance, changing only when a utility files a new tariff or secures its regulators' approval to raise the rates.  Absent such a change, customers' retail rates remained fixed throughout the day and the year.

In recent years, real-time wholesale markets have developed across much of the United States.  The true cost of producing and delivering power varies in real time, depending on the balance of supply and demand.  If consumers demand more electricity, more and more expensive generating units are required to serve their load, resulting in an increase in the true cost of power.  Conversely, at night or during mild weather, decreased demand typically leads to a reduction in the real-time cost of power.  Real-time wholesale markets are designed to allow utilities and other wholesale buyers to respond to price variations, buying more electricity when it is less expensive or conserving power when prices rise.  Most retail customers like homeowners and businesses are not directly exposed to these real-time variations, instead paying the utility's fixed tariff rates.

This paradigm is starting to change in parts of the country.   In 2010, the California Public Utilities Commission ordered utility Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to implement a variable pricing structure for many of its business and agricultural customers by next March. The utility asked the regulators to allow customers to opt out of the time of use rates and back in to their previous fixed rates, pointing to its experience with customer complaints over a lack of an opt-out mechanism for smart meters.

Last week, the commission upheld its earlier decision, noting that evidence suggested that few customers would see increased bills as a result of the shift to time-of-use rates. Will more regulators and utilities shift customers to time-of-use rates?

4/9/10: an in-depth look at the rate impacts of Ontario's feed-in tariff and green energy policies

Today I'm taking a more in-depth look north of the border at what one Canadian province is doing to encourage green electricity generation -- and at the electric rate impacts of this policy.

As you may know, Ontario plans to eliminate its coal-fired power plants by 2014 and replace them with cleaner energy sources. In October, Ontario unveiled the Green Energy Act, which includes a set of feed-in tariffs that guarantee renewable generators fixed, above-market prices for 20 years to feed their production into the electricity grid. Yesterday, the province has announced 184 contracts for green energy projects, totalling 2,500 MW.

Minister of energy and infrastructure Brad Duguid said these contracts will generate 20,000 direct and indirect "green jobs" and attract $9 billion in private investment. In addition, Ontario is seeing interest in local siting of manufacturing facilities to produce the products and components needed to site renewable generation. In the last three months, Ontario has received commitments from both South Korea’s Samsung C&T Corp. and Germany’s Bosch Solar Energy to site manufacturing facilities in the province. It is assumed that the feed-in tariffs and contracts are required to incentivize this economic development activity.


But at what cost? The Globe and Mail has a good article detailing how Ontario is poised to face the highest electricity prices in Canada, replacing PEI as the province with the most costly power. Projections show that residential customers in Ontario were already facing a 25% rate hike, paying $300 more a year on average for electricity by the end of 2011. The green energy contracts will add another 5%, or $60 a year by 2012. Consumers' total cost, including distribution, may rise to 14.54 cents in 2011, while the average residential rate in the United States will rise just 2 per cent to 11.74 cents next year.

Simultaneously, a "smart grid"-related initiative will raise most residential rates even further. Ontario is introducing time-of-use billing, charging 9.3 cents per kWH during peak periods and 4.4 cents during off-peak periods. One forecast suggests this will result in a $50 a year increase for the average residential ratepayer. Of course, those ratepayers who can successfully shift their load to off-peak hours -- whether through careful management, or investment in appliances and technology systems that do the management for them -- might be able to reduce their costs through this move.

On top of all this, the province -- like many U.S. states -- is exploring tax hikes and broadening of the tax base to raise funds. In Ontario, a new harmonized sales tax will add 8 per cent to everyone’s bill starting July 1, or $98 a year for the average bill.

It will be interesting to watch as Ontario policymakers pursue these initiatives. Will there be ratepayer backlash? Or will ratepayers take the rate increases in stride, and feel like they're getting something -- freedom from coal-fueled power plants and their environmental impacts -- for their money? Time will tell.