http://www.mantecabulletin.com/section/140/article/120539/ PG&E wants ratepayers to pay bill for $653M in car chargers February 10, 2015
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The state’s biggest utility wants to install 25,000 electric car charging stations across Northern and Central California and have customers foot the bill. More than 60,000 plug-in electric vehicles are currently registered in PG&E’s service area in Central and Northern California. But there are only 1,991 charging stations statewide, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Some drivers worry they will be stranded. The stations would have chargers that provide up to 25 miles of power for every hour of charging. For motorists driving long distances, the utility will install 100 “fast chargers,” which can recharge an electric vehicle’s battery in 30 minutes. A growing number of the fast-charging stations are popping up along the “West Coast Electric Highway,” which runs from British Columbia to Baja California. The utility says the goal is to help Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to have 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles in California by 2025. The price tag for the charging stations is $653.8 million. The chargers would be located in apartment complexes, retail centers, and at workplaces. PG&E wants its 5.1 million electricity customers to cover the costs. On Monday, the utility submitted its plan to the California Public Utilities Commission for consideration. If approved, residential customers could see a hike of about 70 cents on their monthly bill for five years starting in 2018. PG&E says there are other benefits as well. “By supporting market acceptance of electric vehicles, it should create tremendous new opportunities for other infrastructure and technology companies, help keep California in the forefront of electric vehicle innovation, and create new jobs in local communities across Northern and Central California,” PG&E President and CEO Tony Earley said. Not everyone is behind the plan, including electric vehicle charging network ChargePoint. “The proposal PG&E filed today creates a monopoly in EV charging equipment and services that will stifle growth and innovation in the market,” CEO Pasquale Romano said in a statement. [© 2015 Manteca Bulletin] http://www.govtech.com/transportation/PGE-Wants-California-Ratepayers-to-Foot-Bill-for-25000-Car-Chargers.html PG&E Wants Ratepayers to Foot Bill for 25,000 Car Chargers in California by David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle / February 10, 2015 1 The utility described the $653.8 million effort as an important step toward reaching Gov. Jerry Brown’s goal of having 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the state’s roads by 2025. (TNS) -- As more Californians switch to electric cars, the state’s biggest utility — Pacific Gas and Electric Co. — sees a new potential role for itself: Gas station owner. PG&E on Monday announced plans to install 25,000 electric car chargers across Northern and Central California, in what the company billed as the nation’s largest charger deployment project yet. The utility, based in San Francisco, described the $653.8 million effort as an important step toward reaching Gov. Jerry Brown’s goal of having 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the state’s roads by 2025. California already has more than 100,000 electric cars on its roads, a greater number than any other state or country. And 60 percent of those cars reside in PG&E’s territory. But many potential buyers still suffer from “range anxiety,” the fear of running out of juice on the open road. More public charging stations would soothe that fear. “There is some growth in EV adoption, there is some growth in (charging) infrastructure, but the growth is nowhere near where we need it to be to reach the state’s goals,” said James Ellis, director of electric vehicle programs at PG&E. While other companies — including automakers such as Tesla Motors, BMW and Volkswagen — are deploying charging stations as well, PG&E’s plan comes with a significant difference. The program’s cost would be paid by all 5.1 million of PG&E’s electricity customers, whether they own electric cars or not. In California, utility profits are based largely on the value of the equipment they own — the substations, wires, meters and poles. The cost for the charging stations would be passed on to PG&E customers in the same way, adding about 70 cents to the monthly bill of a typical residential customer, starting in 2018. As a result, PG&E’s plan requires the approval of the California Public Utilities Commission, which sets utility rates. PG&E submitted its proposal to the commission on Monday. The idea of passing on the program’s costs irks consumer advocates. Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, noted that charging-station technology is advancing quickly. And it’s still not clear, he said, that electric vehicles will win in the looming head-to-head competition with fuel-cell vehicles, championed by Toyota, Hyundai and several other automakers. “It’s way too early in this technology to know what’s going to be around for the long term,” Toney said. “The last thing we want to see is to invest millions of ratepayer dollars into a technology that’s going to be obsolete in five years.” By collecting a stable rate of return from its existing customers, PG&E would profit from the deal even if fuel-cell vehicles emerge victorious. The utility does not, however, want to get into the business of running the stations. PG&E would own all of the chargers, but would bring in other companies to install and manage them. Electric car drivers would have to pay those companies to use the chargers. As envisioned by PG&E, the chargers would be deployed at offices, multifamily buildings, shopping centers and other public locations. Most of the stations would feature “level 2 chargers,” which add about 25 miles of battery range for every hour of charging. But 100 would be “DC fast chargers,” which can largely fill the batteries of most EVs in a half hour or less. The fast chargers would be strategically placed between cities, to facilitate long-range travel. BMW, Volkswagen and ChargePoint of Campbell recently announced plans for a similar fast-charger network on the West Coast, linking San Diego with Portland, Ore. PG&E insists it isn’t trying to crowd out businesses such as ChargePoint that are already deploying charging stations. By the utility’s estimate, reaching Brown’s 2025 goal would require roughly 100,000 charging stations in PG&E’s territory, which covers 70,000 square miles. “PG&E is not looking to control the market, by any means,” Ellis said. [©2015 the San Francisco Chronicle] http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/10/ca-wants-to-raise-rates-to-pay-for-electric-car-charging-stations/ CA Wants To Raise Rates To Pay For Electric Car Charging Stations 02/10/2015 Michael Bastasch Californians already face some of the highest electricity rates in the U.S., and now millions of residents could see their utility bills go up even higher if state regulators approve a plan to build new electric vehicle charging stations. To meet California’s green energy plans, Pacific Gas and Electric Corp. is asking state utility regulators for permissions to build 25,000 electric vehicle charging stations across northern and central California. If approved it would be the largest string of electric car charging stations, but at a cost to ratepayers. PG&E says the costs would be “minimal” in 2016 and 2017, adding only an average of one-tenth of a cent per kilowatt hour to customers’ bills. Costs would go up in the years after that, says PG&E, as the average customer would see a 70 cent increase in their monthly bill from 2018 to 2022. The costs would be spread out to customers who don’t even own electric cars or use the recharging station. Only about 60,000 electric cars — one-fifth of the country’s electric car fleet — are registered in PG&E’s service area, and the utility says that owners of sites where charging stations are located will not have to pay for them. “Our proposed build-out of [electric vehicle] charging infrastructure aims to accelerate customer adoption of clean, quiet, and efficient plug-in vehicles by reducing lingering range anxiety,” PG&E CEO Tony Earley said in a statement. The utility is ramping its electric car infrastructure to help meet Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to have 1.5 “zero-emissions” vehicles on the road by 2025 to help the state reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050. In 2012, Brown announced a $120 million settlement with NRG Energy to get the company to build 10,000 charging stations across the state. The same day Brown issued an executive order boosting electric car use in the state. “This executive order strengthens California’s position as a national leader in zero-emission vehicles,” Brown said in 2012. “And the settlement will dramatically expand California’s electric vehicle infrastructure, helping to clean our air and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.” Last September, Brown signed a bill that would hand out more subsidies to people who buy electric cars. The bill also provided extra subsidies to low-income areas so they too can have electric cars and charging stations. The bill is funded with some $200 million taken from the state’s cap-and-trade program. The state has a long way to go to meet Brown’s goal as only 100,000 electric cars have been sold in the state in the last four years. PG&E also said they would need 100,000 electric vehicle charging stations by 2020 to meet Brown’s global warming goals. Did someone say higher utility bills? “By supporting market acceptance of electric vehicles, it should create tremendous new opportunities for other infrastructure and technology companies, help keep California in the forefront of EV innovation, and create new jobs in local communities across Northern and Central California,” Earley said. [© 2015 The Daily Caller] http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/02/10/pge-electric-vehicle-charging-stations-northern-central-california-plug-in/ PG&E Looks To Build 25,000 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Over 5 Years February 10, 2015 SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – PG&E filed an application with the California Public Utilities Commission on Monday to build roughly 25,000 new electric vehicle charging stations across Northern and Central California over a five-year period. If approved, PG&E said the $654 million plan will be the largest deployment of electric vehicle charging stations in the U.S. and that 10 percent of the chargers will support disadvantaged communities. There are currently more than 60,000 electric vehicles registered in PG&E’s service area, representing more than 20 percent of all electric vehicles nationwide, according to PG&E. The new chargers would take about five years to build and would be provided at no cost to the site’s host. PG&E plans to maintain ownership of the infrastructure involved, hiring contractors to install and maintain the chargers and manage customer billing. The cost of the plan would be passed on to all of the utility’s customers. PG&E estimates that a “typical residential customer” will pay an extra $0.70 cents per month from 2018 to 2022, averaging roughly $42 per household over the five-year period. Tony Earley, president and CEO of PG&E, said in a statement that the utility company hopes the project will accelerate the adoption of plug-in vehicles throughout the region. [© 2015 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service] http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/PG-E-profit-up-despite-San-Bruno-blast-cost-of-6073780.php PG&E profit up despite San Bruno blast cost of $2.8 billion By David R. Baker | February 10, 2015 ... http://www.plugincars.com/pge-will-build-and-own-25000-ev-chargers-130503.html PG&E Will Build and Own 25,000 Public EV Charging Stations By Brad Berman · February 09, 2015 For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html#nabble+template%2FNamlServlet.jtp%3Fmacro%3Dsearch_page%26node%3D413529%26query%3DEVLN%2Bbrucedp2%26days%3D0%26sort%3Ddate http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2015_01_29_why_EV_winter_range_loss_is_both_fact_and_fiction Why EV Winter Range Loss is Both Fact and Fiction http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/chi-license-plate-scanner-auto-surveillance-20150130-story.html Big Brother watches while you drive to ensure EVs pay a roadtax http://evfleetworld.co.uk/news/2015/Jan/KCPL-to-install-over-1000-charging-stations-in-Greater-Kansas-City-region/0438018255 KCP&L to install 1000+ ChargePoint EVSE in Kansas City KS region http://www.kcpl.com/about-kcpl/media-center/2015/january/kcpl-becomes-electric-vehicle-infrastructure-leader ... http://www.utilitydive.com/news/kcpl-plans-largest-utility-owned-electric-vehicle-charging-network-in-us/357572/ KCP&L plans largest utility-owned U.S. ChargePoint EVSE network By Robert Walton | January 28, 2015 http://d1bb041l1ipbcm.cloudfront.net/user_media/cache/96/4e/964e1693d9a1bb23d16a90fe4bb6b3f8.jpg http://www.hybridcars.com/electric-circuit-growing-with-more-than-125-new-charging-stations/ Nissan.ca expanding EVSE> 25 L3 w/ CHAdeMO&Combo + 100 L2 public EVSE + EVLN: GA lawmakers battle over ending or expanding EV tax credits {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-PG-E-wants-CA-ratepayers-to-pay-bill-for-653M-public-EVSE-tp4673784.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
