Over the last several years the number of electric vehicles on the roadways has increased dramatically. From a national perspective, Ford, the U.S.’s largest auto manufacturer, saw a 121% increase in electric vehicle sales year over year. Ford now anticipates a full 40% of their annual sales to be electric vehicles by 2030, a mere eight years away.
Why is this important to Lansdale? We are a municipal electric borough. We buy and generate power for our residents (at a cheaper price than both PP&L & PECO I might add). This means there is likely to be a market for fast charging stations, like the gas stations of today, that we will need to power, and we will need to consider how to best approach this future challenge for our community.
The reality is that this challenge, or opportunity, is not even theoretical anymore. As a borough, we have had multiple businesses approach us requesting the ability to re-sell power for charging stations outside their buildings. Currently, our existing code does not allow the re-selling of power. Most of the businesses that have approached us are looking to bring consumers to their locations and are looking to make-back or make a slight profit on the cost of the power they are providing to the charging station. It is more about appealing to a certain type of customer and less about making money, for now.
It doesn’t take a futurist or a crystal ball to realize that if 40% of all Ford sales — never mind every other manufacturer — will be electric that some of them, maybe even most of them, will be to people without a charger at their home. They will need to charge somewhere, and it is only a matter of time before fast-charging stations are built in communities across the US.
The challenge with fast charging stations is that they pull a large amount of power all at once. The average EV requires around 30 Kilowatt Hours (kWh) to travel 100 miles. According to Pew Research, that is around the same amount of power a house needs each day to power everything in it. Considering the number of vehicles on the road, and the number of homes we have to power, there will come a day when we must figure out how we are going to increase our capacity to accommodate all this power usage.
To be clear, this is an “early days” discussion and there are many different angles to be thinking about this. However, if we are going to allow the re-sale of power, massive amounts of power, in the borough for EV charging, we need to start thinking now about how to ensure residents are not single handedly footing the bill for the increases to capacity and transmission. We need to be asking ourselves, right now, how do we create a system that provides for a fair business model that encourages the development of these fast-charging stations while also ensuring that the borough is being compensated fairly for the long-term impact of this shift.
It is exciting that we can explore this challenge. Few other communities/municipalities will have to think this critically about how the shift from gas to electric will impact their infrastructure because they are not the ones selling power. It provides us the opportunity to help build a system that works for everyone and helps the borough grow.
The answers to this challenge are not clear yet. We could explore a simple percentage or flat rate fee for the power sold each day as a service charge at each location, or a surcharge based on total volume. Additionally, we are continuing to explore local power generation via solar panels. It is possible that projects like this help fund those initiatives. We could even consider mandating any charging station to be built with solar panels on their roofs to decrease grid usage.
Again, this is an early discussion of what this could look like if the trend of electric vehicle sales continues (which is expected). As a community we need to be thinking through this challenge now so that we are not caught flat footed when we realize how much power we need to accommodate for our new transportation needs. We are fortunate to be able to work through these challenges with the skilled team at Lansdale Electric and our community is going to benefit from the hard work we do today in preparation of the future. Lansdale will be one of the most forward-thinking communities on this issue and that is exactly what will keep our community moving forward together.
(Mayoral Musings is a weekly op-ed column submitted to North Penn Now, courtesy of Lansdale Borough Mayor Garry Herbert. The views expressed are his own.)
See also:
Mayoral Musings: Lansdale Ballot Drop Box Opens This Weekend
Mayoral Musings: North Penn Cuts Ribbon on Renovated Knapp Elementary
Mayoral Musings: Budgeting for More Police Officers
Mayoral Musings: Initial 2023 Draft Budget for Lansdale Carries No Tax Increase
Mayoral Musings: Residents to Receive Public Safety Survey in Coming Weeks
