MONTPELIER — Vermont’s chief utility regulator said the state’s ambitious electric vehicle targets are possible — if Vermont adopts a wartime footing in the battle against climate change.
Last year, lawmakers tasked the Public Utility Commission with looking into why more Vermonters are not driving electric vehicles. The PUC embarked on an almost year-long investigation into what the state, utilities and other parties can do to get more Vermonters to buy the vehicles. The research culminated in a report released last week.
The report cites the main obstacles to widespread use of electric vehicles as purchase price, concerns about how far they can go on a single charge and lack of public charging stations. Vehicle selection and “misconceptions about vehicle performance” also are cited as perceived negatives.
Vermont needs 50,000 to 60,000 electric vehicles, or EVs, on the road by 2025 to meet goals laid out in the state’s Comprehensive Energy Plan, the report states. As of this January, there were 2,985 registered electric vehicles in the state — meaning the state would need a 1,575% increase over the next six years in electric vehicle use to hit the low end of that target.
When asked how realistic it was for the state to drastically increase electric vehicle use, Anthony Roisman, chairman of the PUC, said the state needs to look at the issue as a Pearl Harbor moment when Japanese air fighters severely damaged the U.S. Pacific naval fleet.
“Nine months later, the United States had restored its fleet … because we put ourselves on a wartime footing because we saw what the risks were, if we didn’t get back to the dominance that we needed to have in the Pacific,” he said. “I think that’s where we are now with climate change.”
“If we do that, if we put our thinking on a wartime footing mentality, then we can make the 2025 date,” Roisman added.
Although by statute, Vermont is supposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% below 1990 levels in 2028, the state’s latest emissions data show emissions are 16% higher than in 1990. Transportation makes up 47% of those emissions, according to the PUC report.
“Vermont is a rural state featuring long commutes for many of its residents, at times in difficult and demanding conditions,” states the report. “If the State is to meet its (greenhouse gas emissions) reduction goals, more Vermonters will need to choose EVs as their main mode of transport.”
Roisman said he was “pleasantly surprised” to learn through the investigation that electric vehicles actually cost less in the long run than their fossil fuel counterparts.
Electric vehicles have fewer moving parts to replace and fueling them costs the equivalent of $1.50 per gallon, according to Drive Electric Vermont.
The report contains a range of recommendations for the state, utilities, dealers and others to help Vermonters overcome obstacles to driving electric, including:
■Creating state incentives for purchasing electric vehicles;
■Eliminating or reducing the sales tax on them;
■Placing public charging stations in park and ride lots and rest areas;
■Creating special electricity rates to encourage charging at night, which can lower rates for all customers;
■Coordination between utilities and car dealers to educate Vermonters about types of electric vehicles and all available incentives.
Vermont, which has the fourth highest per capita electric vehicle sales in the country, according to the report, already has begun the push to get more electric on the road. Gov. Phil Scott and Democratic leadership found common ground last session, passing legislation aimed at spurring electric vehicle use. This year’s transportation bill included $1.2 million in electric vehicle incentives for both new and leased vehicles for lower- and moderate-income Vermonters.
Vermont also has put some of the money it received from Volkswagen over its misleading “clean diesel” promotion toward an electric bus pilot program, and the state already has started doling out $2.4 million in public electric vehicle charging station grants.
Some of the state’s electrical utilities have started rolling out electric vehicle incentives and special home charging rates. Vermont’s renewable energy standard requires utilities to invest in projects that reduce customers’ fossil fuel use.
Darren Springer, general manager of Burlington Electric Department, said Queen City residents have been particularly interested in leasing electric vehicles.
“If you lease for three years, you might in three years end up looking at getting another electric vehicle with an even better performance or increased range … because they keep improving year to year.”
He also said that he agrees with the PUC’s recommendation to have utilities structure rates to encourage “off-peak” charging. Springer said that by enabling Burlington Electric Department to sell more kilowatt hours without having to invest in new infrastructure, electric vehicle charging “has a downward pressure on rates, all other things being equal.”
In the report, the PUC commended lawmakers for taking a “significant step in the right direction” in terms of promoting electric vehicles this past session. But commissioners also encouraged lawmakers to pass “bold legislation” next session to further promote them — specifically, finding “meaningful funds” for electric vehicle incentives and charging stations.
Meanwhile, the state’s efforts this past year faced criticism from environmental advocates who say Vermont needs to act more swiftly to meet its climate commitments.
At the beginning of the session, the House Transportation Committee sent a letter to budget writers asking them to set aside more money for electric vehicle incentives. Rep. Curt McCormack, D-Burlington, chairman of House Transportation, said the state would need more like $20 million in incentives to push electric vehicles to 15% market saturation — the point at which new technologies move into the mainstream according to innovation diffusion theory.
“If we had found a sustainable funding source, it would be easier to continue it next year if it shows success,” McCormack said of the state’s incentive program.
McCormack said he disagreed with the commission’s recommendation that electric vehicle owners not yet be required to pay into the state’s transportation fund.
“They make the point that we don’t have enough electric cars yet, and it will be a while before it actually matters,” he said. “But it does matter in the Legislature because … (there are) enough electric cars around that people feel that if you use the roads, you should pay for that,” he said.
McCormack added that he does not want to see the state develop too narrow a focus on swapping out single-use gas and diesel powered vehicles for electric vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“I fear that all we’re going to do is try to bring about electrification of our transportation as opposed to changing it more productively so that we have a mass transit system that works,” he said.