Energize Weekly, March 7, 2018
A record number of electric vehicles (EVs) were sold in the U.S. in 2017, and 43 states took a wide range of EV policy initiatives, including financial incentives, special customer rates and building charging infrastructure, according to the NC Clean Energy Technology Center.
In its annual review of state-based EV policies and actions, the center, at North Carolina State University, found that “states and electric utilities are already examining the potential impacts of and opportunities for electric vehicles on the grid.”
While about 200,000 EVs were sold in 2017, a record for the U.S. market, the vehicles still accounted for just 1 percent of all light-duty vehicle sales. In an effort to bolster the market, states and the District of Columbia took 227 policy actions.
These actions broke down to efforts in regulation, financial incentives, market development, rate design studies, and infrastructure deployment. The most common actions involved fees, rebate programs, special EV electricity rates and studies.
Utilities in nine states plus the District of Columbia have sought approval to deploy approximately $137 million in electric vehicle charging infrastructure. About $88 million of that spending has already been approved, according to the center.
The largest program, $45 million, has been approved for Eversource in Massachusetts. Two California utilities have approvals for a total of $35 million for charging infrastructure programs.
The three most active states were California, New York and Massachusetts. California’s focus was on incentives and market development, while New York was most active developing new regulations. Massachusetts pursued a mix of the three.
The most common action, however, was states looking to make up for declining gasoline tax revenue, due to increasing vehicle efficiency and alternative-fuel vehicles, with additional fees for EVs. Nineteen states dealt with registration or other fees for EVs and hybrid vehicles in 2017.
California, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia all adopted new fees during the year. Most state legislatures are proposing flat registration fees. Some states are proposing fee or tax structures that would be based on vehicle usage or estimated lost fuel tax revenue.
California in 2017 adopted a law setting an additional $100 annual registration fee for EVs model year 2020 and later. Indiana adopted an additional registration fee of $150 for EVs and $50 for hybrids, with the fees increasing every five years.
The Rhode Island legislature passed a bill enabling state and local authorities to enforce an $85 parking violation fine for internal combustion engine vehicles park in spaces set aside for EVs.
Another active area for policymaking was in offering financial incentives for purchasing EVs.
State governments and utilities in 21 states took 53 actions related to financial incentives. “The majority of these actions would create new financial incentives, or extend or expand the eligibility requirements for existing incentive programs,” the review said.
Of those adopted or proposed incentives, 18 were rebate programs, 12 were sales tax incentives, and 10 were income tax credits.
When it came to market development, 17 states and the District of Columbia looked at ways of promoting EVs through policies such as allowing the vehicles in HOV lanes, preferential parking and EV procurement for government-owned fleets.
Utilities continued to experiment with new rates for EV charging. Rocky Mountain Power in Utah proposed an electric vehicle time-of-use pilot program in 2017, while Hawaiian Electric proposed a five-year extension of its pilot EV tariff.
Another five utilities in Delaware, Iowa, Indiana and Minnesota have also proposed new tariffs using time-of-use pricing.
