The Real Impact of Transportation Electrification on Utilities
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Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you know that transportation electrification is coming, and it has the potential to be a paradigm shift within the electric utility industry. But electric vehicles (EVs) at the consumer level won’t move the needle all that much. The real needle-mover is the coming onslaught of commercial vehicle electrification.
How Will Commercial Transportation Electrification Impact Utilities?
The bottom line is that utilities serving fleets will need to prepare for a new norm. For example, a 150-vehicle EV fleet could exceed 1 MW of new load. Additionally, the home base of any commercial EV fleet is likely to cluster around transportation hubs, exponentially increasing the load spike for the utilities serving these hubs.
The large nature of these incremental loads will put pressure on production, and infrastructure enhancements will certainly be necessary. But on the plus side, commercial EVs represent a terrific incremental revenue opportunity.
In order to capitalize – and prepare – for the impending commercial transportation electrification, utilities may wish to work with a fleet advisory service. These outfits serve as the conduit between utilities and fleet operators and can help utility companies be prepared for the changes. They typically provide site assessments to map out forecasts and upgrade efforts and can assist fleet operators by helping them understand what their future cost structures will look like.
In order to effectively and efficiently work with a fleet advisory service, utilities should designate an internal owner and main point of contact, proactively reach out to fleet operators to open the lines of communication, coordinate with internal stakeholders and pilot the new service prior to the broader rollout.
In the final analysis, large electric utilities will not be able to escape the impact of commercial transportation electrification. Changes are afoot, and utilities need to start laying the groundwork so they can be prepared.
