... more than 70 electric utilities committed to invest at least 5 percent of their annual fleet budgets in plug-in vehi
FACT SHEET DOE and EEI Sign MOU on Electric Transportation: What Is It and What Will It Do?
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) creates a partnership aimed at accelerating the deployment of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) and charging infrastructure.
The MOU identifies major activity areas to be pursued, including: o Outreach and Education: Campaigns to raise the level of familiarity among consumers. o Research and Analysis: Insights from existing deployment data, supplemented with new research. o Cross-Government Coordination: Engagement with other relevant federal and state agencies.
The first specific actions to be taken at the launch of the MOU: o National economic value assessment study to quantify the economic impact of broad-based electric transportation on the U.S. economy. o DOE Workplace Charging Challenge integration with EEI’s new Employee PEV Engagement Initiative. (See below for further details.)
Update on EEI Fleet Electrification Initiative
In partnership with the White House, EEI announced in November 2014 that more than 70 electric utilities committed to invest at least 5 percent of their annual fleet budgets in plug-in vehicles and technologies. (Learn more in the White House Fact Sheet.)
Results: Participating utilities plan to spend $90 million in 2015, representing 10 percent of their total budget— doubling the initial 5 percent investment goal.
This investment will bring into service more than 800 new PEVs across a variety of application types (passenger cars, work trucks, and other vehicles) and more than 700 charging ports.
This is an unprecedented effort by the utility industry to lead by example—reducing fuel use and emissions of participating fleets, while demonstrating the merits of electric transportation to customers.
Launch of EEI Employee PEV Engagement Initiative
Building upon the success of the Fleet Electrification Initiative, this new effort will leverage electric utility employees to further demonstrate the benefits of PEVs and spur adoption in their communities.
EEI is asking its member companies to commit to implement Employee PEV Engagement programs that will encourage and enable their employees to choose PEVs as their personal vehicles.
Utility programs will assess interest among employees, deploy educational tools to familiarize employees with technology, and offer appropriate workplace charging facilities to encourage adoption.
The program will also feature an online portal intended to aid utilities in this effort, offering a collection of resources and best practices for designing an effective Employee PEV Engagement program.
Integration with DOE Workplace Charging Challenge: EEI members will be encouraged to join the Challenge as part of the initiative; new efforts support Challenge goals through utility relationships with business customers.
Leadership goal: All EEI member companies will implement an Employee PEV Engagement program by the end of 2017.
