Dubbed “Transportation Electrification – Utility Fleets Leading the Charge”, the white paper was written by a steering committee comprised of utility fleet directors from across the country and says that electrification is the biggest opportunity for the transportation sector.

The white paper encourages investor-owned electric utilities to meet an industry-wide goal to spend at least 5% of annual fleet acquisition budgets on plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) and technologies.

It says: ‘Stagnant growth, rising costs, and a need for even greater infrastructure investment represent major challenges to the utility industry. To maintain our critical energy infrastructure while investing for the future, today’s electric utilities need a new source of load growth— one that fits within the political, economic and social environment.

‘Electrification of the transportation sector is a potential “quadruple win” for electric utilities and society, and will enable companies to support environmental goals, build customer satisfaction, reduce operating costs and assure the future value of existing assets.’

The white paper says that technology Is available and becoming more mainstream and that plug-in vehicles now make good business sense, offering significant operational savings in the way of fuel cost and maintenance over conventional vehicles.

It adds that the longer-term outlook on regulation necessitates an increasing percentage of electric vehicles in order to meet long term public health, petroleum displacement and climate protection goals.

It also says the plug-in market needs the transportation industry’s support to survival. Meanwhile as the technology evolves, future enhancements will focus on faster charging while driving on the road through better generators and the use of lithium ion batteries to reduce size and weight and increase overall efficiency. Costs will also come down although there are currently subsidies offered by regional, state and federal programs such as tax credits, rebates, car pool lane access, and free or reduced bridge tolls.

The white paper summarises the benefits of expansion of electric-based vehicles in utility fleets as:

• Reduce operating costs for fuel and maintenance
• Extend useful lives of the units based on their mechanical simplicity
• Improve crew safety through noise reduction (i.e., the ability to operate a bucket truck at height and still communicate with crew members on the ground)
• Extend work hours of crews performing non-emergency work in communities with noise restrictions
• Reduce carbon emissions
• Provide another avenue to engage customers about the products and services electric utilities provide

The white paper has been greeted by NAFA Fleet Management, including by president Claude A Masters, manager, acquisition and fuel at Florida Power & Light, who provided valuable input in the development of the white paper as a member of EEI’s Fleet Electrification Steering Committee.

He commented: ‘This year, NAFA introduced the Sustainable Fleet Standard Program to our Membership and we are in the final stages of its beta phase. While NAFA has a “fuel-neutral” philosophy, the Association recognizes that electric vehicles will be a major player in how fleets will get to their carbon footprint goals.’

NAFA CEO Phillip E Russo, added: ‘NAFA is enthusiastic about the potential for electric vehicles with respect to fleet usage, and we encourage all the stakeholders in the entire energy industry to look into how the fleet profession can spur on growth. Sustainability is an important subject in the fleet world and EVs are key to making that happen.’