Dive Brief:
- Through January 31, 2017, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCo) will bill nothing to EV owners in its territory who have installed a separate meter to charge their vehicles if they do it between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
- Home recharging of electric vehicles (EVs) is cheaper, on a per-mile basis, than driving on gasoline. One Indianapolis utility charges $0.023 per kilowatt-hour for overnight charging, making the cost of driving a Tesla Model S less than $0.01 per mile, according to Green Car Reports
- EV sales are impressive, according to advocates, but continue to grow slowly because the distance EVs can go before their batteries need recharging is still somewhat limited, causing “range anxiety,” and gasoline pump prices have been falling.
Dive Insight:
In addition to free nighttime charging, NIPSCo is also offering a $1,650 voucher for meter installation to the first 250 customers who do so. To date, 125 customers signed up for this "Rider 685" program.
Chadbourne and Parke Partner Keith Martin recently pointed out that Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities Chair Ann Berwick has called transportation electrification a potential “salvation” of utilities because of the way it would revive the diminishing demand for electricity. And Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning has said, according to Martin, that transportation electrification could make utilities better investments by driving demand for electricity.
SolarCity Policy and Markets Vice President John Stanton, the former head lobbyist for the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) said in response to Martin's remarks that he doesn’t think utilities are interested in stimulating that market.
When there is more demand for EVs, utilities will embrace the technology, former DOE official and Iberdrola Renewables Government Affairs Vice President Richard Glick said. “Demand will increase when the battery technology is there and the cost of batteries goes down.”
