California needs to charge electric vehicles during day, not night, to save grid, study says
California’s grid probably can’t meet its high demand for electric vehicles during the daytime, and it’s causing “nightmare” on the grid, a study finds.
Electric vehicle owners in the Golden State are already paying more than $10,000 in monthly utility bill because of the high cost of charging, according to a June 2019 analysis by the nonprofit group, Climate Progress, and California Sen. Jim Beall.
The two-year study by the nonprofit shows that California’s electric vehicle infrastructure can be overwhelmed, with charging costs at $600 to $1,500 per hour. This problem is exacerbated with the high use of electric vehicles.
Beall introduced a bill (SB 1.9) that would force the state’s utilities to charge electric vehicles in the daytime, rather than at night, during peak demand periods.
Beall introduced the bill as a counterbalance to the Trump administration’s plan to reduce the federal carbon tax for two years in order to support efforts to reduce greenhouse gases.
The bill would raise fees on the utilities by 10 percent, to $60 per vehicle per year, and would require utilities to reduce their power plants’ electricity consumption by 20 percent on an annual basis (the state’s goal).
Beall introduced the bill on the state’s second day of the legislative session in February.
“The California Legislature stands with our electric vehicle community and will work to fully implement the findings of this study,” the senator said in a statement.
The study analyzes data from the electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the state, including chargers, public charging stations, and plug-in electric vehicle owners.
The study finds that the electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the state can be overwhelmed by the high demand of electric vehicles, resulting in long wait times at charging stations.
Charging stations are not “infrastructure,” Beall said on the state’s second day of the legislative session in February.
“The California Legislature stands with our electric vehicle community and will work to fully implement the findings of this study,” Beall said in a statement following the study’s release.
The study also estimates the economic benefits that California could