Our Views: Practical Energy Policy for the Future

When it comes to public policy on energy, legislation formed today will exert implications well into the future. While our focus as a company is to safely produce and deliver reliable and affordable electricity, we’re also working to help policymakers create informed, practical public policy for California and our nation, based on a thorough understanding of associated costs and tradeoffs.

Using clean electric power as a transportation fuel is an effective way to accelerate attainment of California’s environmental goals. Electric vehicles currently reduce greenhouse gases by more than 70 percent and smog-producing air pollutants by 85 percent compared to gas-powered cars. As more renewable resources are added to the grid, electric vehicles will increasingly benefit the environment.

The natural role for electric utilities in electric transportation is delivering clean electricity to customers to fuel their EVs. New electricity infrastructure and a modernized grid will support the growth and integration of EVs; however, we must support more chargers that deliver clean and reliable electric fuel to EVs.

We have just 13 years until 2030 – the date when California has committed to meet the next phase of its GHG reduction goals. If the state, utilities, and other stakeholders do not act now, time will quickly run out to achieve these laudable GHG reduction goals. These parties cannot work alone. They must be willing to collaborate and share lessons learned, while developing programs to encourage the adoption of EVs. Given the real world timing constraints of bringing millions of new EVs on the road to meet the state’s environmental objectives, there must be a willingness to try new methods, fail fast, and move on.

Through our Charge Ready program, we are ensuring that there are more places for passenger EVs to charge away from home. We are now proposing to use this approach for commercial and heavy duty vehicles, promoting electrification of freight transportation and people movement. These projects will benefit all SCE customers, with a particular focus on “disadvantaged communities” — areas that are disproportionately affected by pollution and economic hardship, often located along transportation corridors.