Suggest topics for lunch meeting w/electric company

[kg4bec]

Hello,

I'm planning to meet some folks from the local electricity company for lunch. They are from "Alabama Power Company Electric Transportation Program". This should be a good opportunity to chat with them about:
- Charging infrastructure: perhaps quick chargers along the various interstates?
- Networking: put them in touch with other folks in the local area and elsewhere such as Schneider in TN,
- Generally compare vehicles: my LEAF vs. their all-electric RAV4

Now's your chance to post suggestions about other topics to raise with them. We've already broached the subject of their outdated J-1772 plugs in their existing EVSE locations, my suggestion to upgrade them is what led to this meeting. Let me know -- especially if you are in the area of Birmingham, AL -- what you'd like me to talk about with them. They are keen to talk so let's not waste this opportunity.

Regards, Bert

 

[ElectricVehicle]

Which day are you meeting with them?

California has a California Energy Comission grant to upgrade all of the old J1772-2001 Avcon connectors to the the new J1772-2009 standard LEAFs and new electric cars use.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J1772" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.energy.ca.gov/drive/projects/ARV-10-001.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Other topics:
EV time of use rates - cheap off peak electricity, expensive on peak electricity to save the consumer and utility money while improving grid reliability.

Submetering - so you have one main meter but a separate meter in your EVSE subtracts the EVSE power from the main meter and allows you to have a different rate for the EV without the thousands of dollars in costs to install a physically separate main meter dedicated to the EV. With a submeter, the EVSE just connects to your normal breaker box with a 40A circuit. The submeter inside the EVSE tracks the EV usage so it can be billed at the different, EV rate, without having to put your whole house on the EV rate.

Smart Grid - Smart Grid Demand Response (DR) enabling control and metering of loads to optimize the grid There's lots of other Smart Grid Goodness - AMI Addvanced Metering Infrastruction to remotely read and connect/disconnect electric service, DA - Distribution Automation managing voltage, switchgear, transformers, capacitors, etc. that make up the electric distribution network, etc.

Coordinating delpoyment of EVs with utility notification of residences / premises with EVs so they can manage and prevent overloads of the local distribution grid - no big deal, the grid survived the invention of air conditioning, it will survive EVs just fine, it just needs to be planned, unlike air conditioners which dirve peak load and often cause the balckouts on hot days from inadequate planning.

Public outreach to EV owners explaining benefits, costs, savings, rates, home charging, etc. Check out the work of other utilities.

Increasing the number of EVs in the utility fleet vehicles where it makes sense and matches the use patterns of that vehicle including during emergency situations.

Outreach events like Earth Day, local Electric Auto Association events, etc.

Plug In America http://www.pluginamerica.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This site, My Nissan LEAF http://www.mynissanleaf.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[thankyouOB]

go to the ladwp site. they have a wonderful rate structure for EVs and incentives, plus TOU for solar with incentives.

 

[TomT]

Until they can reprogram their 1980s computers to do subtractive metering, such as they already can do with water, it is worthless to a number of us. The amount I would spend to install a second meter with my underground utilities would never pay back in my lifetime...

go to the ladwp site. they have a wonderful rate structure for EVs and incentives, plus TOU for solar with incentives.

 

[LakeLeaf]

Try and find out who the EV advocates within the company are. While they may not always be in a position to help you, they usually are able to help guide you to the right people and give you some insight as to the inside thinking on various issues is.

 

[lpickup]

I would make sure they understand the various usage models and scenarios of public charging.

For example, putting L2 charging at places like rest areas is pretty foolish (IMO) and I think ideas like that are born by enthusiasm to create "infrastructure" without understanding how it's going to be used. Unless you have or have deeply studied EV's, you tend to look at a charging station like a gas station no matter how many times you are told "it takes 6 hours to charge up at L2".

They also need to be told to anticipate backlash from the public if free charging is offered and understand what options are available to them if they decide to charge for the electricity. Again this comes down to understanding what a typical EV owner is going to consider paying for. If it's a QC, I'm sure many would pay a reasonable fee for the convenience it offers. But if you're going to charge at all for L2 (or anything more than 2X the market value per kWh), those stations will never get used. I would hope the electric company understands that the actual cost of electricity supplying the charging stations is very reasonable (although many of the uneducated public still equate it to filling up a tank of gas) and that if they site charging stations on private/commercial property, they ought to have presentations available to convince the property owners that the minimal cost of supplying that service for free can very easily be recovered by attracting EV owners to their places of business, therefore the commercial model should be free. You can pretty much say the same about municipal parking lots: cities/downtowns can use charging stations to attract EV drivers downtown to patronize tax paying businesses in the business districts. It's a bit tougher sell for a city to give away free electricity, but in scenarios I've seen these are usually pay lots, so you're not really giving away the electricity but rather making a little less money for EVs.

Finally, and this is more of a governmental topic, but one that I would hope the utility would be willing to advocate for, but towns/cities/states and maybe even the country needs to be concerned with proper and consistent marking of EV charging stations so the general public becomes aware of these spots and that they are for EV charging only. Within a given region at least there should be consistency in markings (and it should be clearly stated and visible). There may have to be laws created/changed to allow enforcement of this, and we can learn from other examples of what works and what doesn't. I would hope that you could enlist their aid in advocating for this at city hall. On a related note, they should be prepared to recommend ideal siting for charging stations on a given property: i.e. don't site them in the "front row" as those spots will always be ICEd. Sometimes it's not practical to site them far away from the main building, but more often than not there is some areas at the sides of buildings that are away from the main parking lot and still close to the building. AND this is usually where the utility connection is anyway!

 

[Yodrak]

Recognize that the utility is not free to implement whatever it might decide on this matter. There is a PUC involved that will review what the utility proposes to do and that will decide whether or not the utility will be allowed to do it and under what terms and conditions.

The PUC in my state has let the utility know that it is not inclined to let the utility provide 'free' EV charging, which would not really be free but would have to be paid for by the customer base as a whole (or by the utility's shareholders, or both) if the EV owner doesn't have to pay. What a reasonable rate would be is yet to be determined, as far as I know.

The PUCs in other states may have different ideas. Some PUCs show a tendancy to promote their own social agendas at the expense of the utilities' customers and shareholders.

They also need to be told to anticipate backlash from the public if free charging is offered and understand what options are available to them if they decide to charge for the electricity.