Long term consumer benefits from a transportation system plugged into the grid
In a recent Colorado Sun opinion piece, I made the case that in addition to the big environmental and clean air benefits, utility electric vehicle programs can bring big consumer benefits.
Right off the bat, anybody who makes the switch to an EV, thanks to Xcel’s programs, is going to save a lot of money. It’s nearly 50% cheaper to fuel your car via the grid than it is to fuel it at the gas pump. Plus, you eliminate a lot of the maintenance costs including oil changes.
Consumer Reports estimates Coloradans will save $800 to $1300 a year on fuel and 50% on the repair and maintenance as compared to an equivalent gas-powered vehicle.
But there is also a big benefit that every Xcel customer should realize when we have tens of thousands of more vehicles plugging into the Xcel grid.
Our power grid has a lot of so-called “sunk costs” — wires, poles, etc., which are paid regardless — so if more vehicles plug into the grid, those costs get spread around to more shoulders. This puts downward pressure on all customers' utility bills because the cost of providing electricity to those EVs is less than what they pay, creating net revenue that should go back to utility customers in the form of lower utility bills whether you use an EV or not.
It’s time to stop seeing the electric grid as something that only provides fuel and energy to homes and buildings. It’s time to recognize that our energy grid can supplant gas pumps to fuel our vehicles, bringing cleaner air and lower costs to our transportation system.
We won’t have the details around exactly what the PUC approved today until their written decision comes out in a few weeks. But by greenlighting Xcel’s strategy to spend millions of dollars on electric vehicles, the PUC has moved us toward transforming our transportation system into a cleaner one with zero tailpipe emissions and huge consumer benefits for years to come.
Big action to reduce air pollution. Opening up big consumer savings for Coloradans. This is a good way to end 2020.