IRA and NEVI Funding is Coming. Are You Ready to Accelerate Your Transportation Electrification Programs?
Many states have already formed aggressive transportation electrification goals. With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and its record funding to support the growth of electric vehicles (EVs), states and their utility partners will have an increased burden around EV program implementation and management.
The good news is that many utilities around the country are already rapidly deploying energy programs and handling dramatic increases in program participation. Utilities are sharing best practices around quickly standing up and automating EV and EV make-ready programs to meet growing customer demands without overwhelming program administrators.
Besides the IRA, transportation electrification tailwinds continue to strengthen on the policy front: the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program aims to fund the strategic deployment of EV charging infrastructure at the state level. As of August 2022, all 50 states have submitted their respective EV infrastructure deployment plans for the first round of $5 billion in accessible NEVI funding over the next five years.
Utilities and energy agencies will play a critical role in helping achieve the states’ ambitious strategies with progressive timelines and oversight requirements. Utilities beginning to scale their efforts stand to learn from the experiences and successes of others who have already been accelerating and streamlining their efforts around transportation electrification.
For example, Orange & Rockland (O&R) solved some of their most challenging pain points around scaling their EV make-ready programs. As a result, they shortened their “make-ready” program life cycle by 40% and remain on track to increase EV chargers in their service area by 3,000% within five years. O&R also automated its reporting process to meet tight regulatory timelines.
Managing the distribution of new program funds and reviewing the influx of proposed charging infrastructure projects and incentive applications challenges EV program managers and their teams. In particular, installing and/or interconnecting commercial and public charging stations requires efficient multi-stakeholder coordination and a series of reviews and approval processes. To solve this challenge, many utilities turn to the exact solutions that helped them capture efficiencies and scale the interconnection of other DERs such as solar and battery storage.
Utilities and energy agencies streamline charger installation and scale EV incentive programs by automating key program workflows, accessing real-time insights on program performance, and automating stakeholder reporting. Such approaches are increasingly critical as national and local EV policies, including NEVI, the IRA and state Make-Ready programs, are rolled out. Here at Clean Power Research, we’re proud to support more than 60 electricity providers of all sizes through our cloud-based WattPlan® and PowerClerk® solutions. Available standalone or integrated, these affordable tools address needs from EV education to enrollment, administration and planning.
Utilities or energy agencies anticipating the need to scale transportation electrification programs can reduce their expenditures of dollars and time by learning from utilities that have already successfully scaled their EV and EV charging infrastructure program efforts through proven technology. Following such established best practices helps avoid program challenges and administrator burnout. It’s an exciting time for utilities and energy agencies equipped to handle their ever important and expanding role in electrifying transportation!